The 4th of July: Sienna's Big Day

Well, Sienna shares something special with our country, the same birthday! We were in Coeur d'Alene for the holiday, since Daddy left for training (one month) the day before. We missed Daddy so much, but we had a great time with family. We went to the parade in the morning, which Breck loved! He was entranced by the floats, but most of all the big trucks with honking horns! Sienna, was a little... cranky. She wasn't too thrilled about the noise and huge floats. She ended up falling asleep for the last half of the parade. Both the kids were decked out in their best 4th of July attire, and feeling patriotic; or maybe just excited about the weirdness of the day! After we got home from the parade, we went back to my parent's house, while the kids took a nap. When they woke up, we went over to Uncle Cameron and Aunt Shawnte's house to have a swim in their kiddy pool! Breck of course loved it, and got right in, but it was an even bigger surprise to see that Sienna liked it too! She didn't feel the need to say in quite as long, but she did enjoy it. We had a fun time just hanging out together, enjoying the nice and HOT weather, and getting our fix of eachother's kids! After swimming, we went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a BBQ! Yummmmm! After dinner, we had dessert, which was a twist on our usual berry flag cake. It was round for Sienna's birthday, with a fun fruit design! My mom's cousin Julie joined us for dessert and fireworks, and it was so nice to see her again! Sienna had fun with the cake, yet again, and we all loved the excuse to eat cake again! After dessert, we had our own fireworks, then headed over to the Hayden Golf course for the fireworks over Hayden Lake. Beautiful as usual. Sienna slept through them, and Breck was a combination of terrified and excited. It was more entertaining watching him! It was pretty much his first 4th of July with fireworks and all, his first one, he slept through, he was only a few months old. The 2nd was last year, but we were all a little busy last year :o), so this was his first real 4th of July experience! It was a fun day, the only thing that would have made it perfect was Daddy! We love and miss you Daddy! We are thinking about you and your sacrifices this 4th of July!

At the Parade

Sienna Slept

Breck watched carefully, never getting too far away from Grandpa!

We thought Breck was being too quiet, which usually brings out a sudden panick in me, but we found him here...of course, watching a race. This kid loves cars...


Sienna talking with Vance

Although Sienna was upset at this moment, she really did like the pool.


Happy Birthday Sienna!!!!


Breck during the fireworks

Breck and Julie

Breck and Mommy

Sienna in her dress

Happy One Year Sienna Bug!

My Dearest Sienna,
You were born a year ago now, and boy, has that year flown by! I remember so clearly the day you were born, the 4th of July; you gave me a labor that was only 2 hours long, and 10 minutes of pushing. I knew you were going to be good to me after that!
Well, my theory proved to be right after you slept through the night for the first time at 3 WEEKS OLD! You were a consistent sleeper after that, which made my transition from one to two kids ridiculously easy. I felt so spoiled, I never felt like it was a struggle adjusting after I had you, and it was all because of your angelic demeanor!
From the beginning, you have always loved to smile and laugh! It’s like you can even sense when we’re just TRYING to make you laugh, and that makes you laugh, even if it’s not funny!
I think if I could name one physical trait that I think would stand out most about you, it would be your hair. You were born with a TON of hair that NEVER fell out! It just kept growing, hence your almost-shoulder-length hair at one year old! It’s been fun to play with, even if you don’t let me work on it too long!
You have such a strong nurturing side already. Any doll or stuffed animal is sure to find its way into your arms to be cuddled, patted, soothed and squeezed for hours!

Some stats on what you’ve accomplished this year, and where you are at are:

-Slept through the night: 3 weeks
-Rolled over (all ways): 4 months
-Sat up: 5 ½ months
-Crawled: 6 months
-Clapped: 9 months
-Walked: 10 months
-Talked (other than mama dada baba): 10 ½ months (Thank you, cracker, juice, and mmmMMMMmmm for when you’re hungry)
-Folded your arms for prayer on your own: 11 months

Current stats: 19 lbs. even 25%
24 inches 50%

Sienna, what a joy you have been in our home, and how we couldn’t live without you! You truly bring an element in that we never knew was missing, but are so glad we have now! We have no doubt that you will continue to grow into a beautiful, valiant, and loving young lady. We can’t believe you’re already a year, and can’t wait for the years to come!
















Happy Birthday Sienna Bug!!!

Party Hardy with Sienna and Other Events

This weeked sure was a busy one!!! To ensure I give each event proper attention , I will talk about each one individually and post pictures in sections.


Okay, Number 1.
Grandma Johnston's Birthday!

My parent's came up this weekend for 2 reasons, one, for Sienna's first birthday party to be discussed later, and two, for my mom's birthday! I won't tell you how old she is, since she would probably murder me for sharing it over the internet, but it was a good one none-the-less. We celebrated on Friday, though her birthday was actually Saturday. We went out to La Casa Lopez, my mom's choice, a Mexican restaurant here in town. We then went back and had cake and ice cream over at our house, and opened a few presents. Breck and Sienna kept Grandma and Grandpa entertained and busy the rest of the evening. We went out to breakfast the next morning, on her real birthday, and on the day of Sienna's party.





Next was Sienna's First Birthday Party!

The theme was an Art Party, so that was a ton of fun! We were able to have it over at the clubhouse at our complex, so we could accomodate more people. We had little arts and crafts for the kids to do, including, Coloring on the wall (with freezer paper covering it), painted noodle and fruit Loop necklaces, painted handprints, and a play-Doh station.
Guests included Grandpa and Grandma Johnston, Nana and TaPa (Cornett), Aunt Shawnte' and Vance; Uncle Jehkiah; Greg, Brittney and Anilyn Croft; Chris, Alyssa and Kardynn Stevens; Dan, Kari, and Beckham Stevens; Katie and Ada Langston; Nicole and Aiden Todd; and last, but not least, Jeff, Annie, Jake and Beckham Thomason.
We had a ton of fun, and Sienna had a blast with all her buddies!


The Cake


Cake Table


Decorations


Sienna's Artist beret that I made her!


The Food


The Party


Singing "Happy Brithday", she didn't want to keep the hat on


She started out really neat and clean for the first 4-5 bites...


...then after bites 6 or 7, she looked like this, and then...


...let's just say she got a wardrobe change and a bath before she opened presents!







For ant info on how to do some os the things for the party, visit my Project Blog for instructions!

Next Item on the list...

Uncle Jehkiah stayed the night with us, and we chatted until about midnight with him (well, I chatted with them til midnight, Josten and Jehkiah stayed up way leter talking!) and in the morning, we woke up early to go to church in Cd'A to hear my long-time friend, Mikelle, give her homecoming talk, since she just came back from her mission in New Hampshire! She did such a great job. Such a valient missionary! We were so proud of her! It was nice to get to chat with her, though it wasn't the first time since she's been home. It was also nice seeing so many familiar faces from her family, and her old home ward.

And finally, we went to Josten's mom's house where we had a Graduation/Achievement party for Josten and Jehkiah! Jehkiah graduated just a couple of weeks ago from OIT in Klamath Falls, Oregon, studying Nuclear Medicine. He's worked so hard these past few years, he totally deserved a celebration! Jehkiah, being the modest and thoughtful person he is, after hearing about some of Josten's accomplishment through the Army this past year, wanted to make it a joint party for Josten as well! It was a fun time, and we had lots of good food, and company. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us!

Karen's Baby Shower!!!

Well for those of you who don't know Josten's family too well, Josten has a sister named Karen who is pregnant for the fourth time, but combined with her husband, it will be their SEVENTH child!!! She hasn't had a baby in awhile, and had given all of her stuff graciously to all of us over these past couple of years, who have had babies. They were completely starting over with this little boy, so we thought it COMPLETELY necessary to throw her a shower!
So Katrina, Shasta, Shawnte' and I got together to throw her a wonderful shower, and it turned out so fun! Katrina took care of the food, Shasta did the games, Shawnte' did the cake, I did the invites and party favors, and we all helped out with decorations! We had it at a restaurant that both Karen and her husband work at, which they catered. Karen looked adorable, of course, with her blossoming belly! She also got a lot of really nice things, so I think she'll be very prepared!
After the shower, we had fun as a family at Dad Cornett's house, just enjoying the company and the beautiful weather! It was so fun to have all the cousins there (except Zoey and Baby Brody, Sheri was having labor pains and dilated with Brody, so she's was of course, taking it easy), and watch them play together. Love it.

We love you Karen and Travis and are so excited to meet little Tracen!!!


Sisters (Me, Shawnte', Shasta, and Karen)


Watching the gift opening, and chowing down on my prize from the games!


Cutting the Cake


The Cake


The Spread


Sienna and Grandma Katrina


Relaxing on the Swing!

The Catch-Up

It's been a couple of weeks since I have posted, so I thought I'd better catch up real quick on what's been going on in those last 2 weeks. We've been staying really active with the beautiful weather, taking walks, riding bikes, playing with the kids, etc. and we LOVE it! As for us individually, I'll go through each of us.

Josten: Done with school for the semester (yay!) and preparing to be gone for the month of July for more training (boo!). He's also been a busy boy working on the Jeep getting it somewhat reliable again! He amazes me at what he can do, I didn't even know he had the knowledge of cars that he does. There were a TON of things wrong with the Jeep, which he fixed all himself, except one problem, a valve in the engine, that he is currently working on with a friend from our ward (thanks Tim!) who is very familiar with engine work, especially Jeep engine work. Lucky us, or blessed, I should say! Josten's been our Mr. Fix it around the house since he's actually had time to do these things that have been happening throughout the busy semester.

Me: I've been a project-ing fool! I've been very busy helping out making things for baby showers in our family this month, for gifts and for the actual showers. I am still ridiculously chrocheting my life away for Farmer's Market, which is going well. I get around five special orders a week so far, and it always varies from week to week how many of my existing beanies I sell. I've been trying to get things ready for Sienna's birthday party, which is quickly approaching (I can't believe it). I've also been doing a lot of work for the kids' rooms, who will soon have their own rooms. I've been enjoying having Josten home for a change, and trying to soak it up for these last few weeks before he leaves! This week I got released from my calling at church as Gospel Doctrine teahcer, and both Josten and I got called to be Nursery Leaders! I'm pretty excited, since Sienna's at that impossible age to sit through 3 hours of church while still too young to go to nursery herself. Also, I'm excited to be able to see Breck first-hand in nursery, and to watch him interact at church. I can't wait to teach these special little beings, and watch them deelope a tesimony for their Savior.

Breck: Oh Breck. He's a firecracker. He's LOVING that his siter can walk now, and often grabs her hand and walks hand in hand with her. He loves grabbing us too by the hand and dragging us along while saying calmly (t's go...t's go) or to translate, Let's Go. Much to my demise, he's developed a love of Bob the Builder. I usually enjoy whatever my kids seem to get a kick out of, but Bob the Builder is just so stinkin' boring! Oh well, at least it's not telletubbies! He is OBSESSED with cars! He actually sleeps with one of his cars at night, and cuddles it close as if it's a stuffed animal. He has to have it, because he wants to know that the instant he wakes up, that he can start playing again with his cars! He loves the nice weather, and loves playing around outside. He's developed some friendships in our complex, even with some older kids! The otehr day we got a knock on our door from a five-year-old little boy in our complex who asked, "Can Breck come out to play?" How cute is that? Anyway, he's doing well, and broaden's his vocabulary daily!

Sienna: She's a walking machiene!!! She's actually trying to say things now!!! I can't believe it! She mimicks us when we say thank you, cracker, and juice. She is learning how to feed herself, and LOVES the attention her brother gives her now that she walks! She also loves being outside, and likes books. We've become recent library addicts, and the kids both love the variety in books they get every week! She's almost one, and she's turning into a little girl right before my eyes!

That's about all we've been up to, just mainly busy around the home, and busy doing our everyday things, which though may be just the old regular, it's still so fun and rewarding. We constantly reflect on how blessed we are in our lives to be where we are, to live where we do, in the place we're in, with the friends and neighbors we have. Sometimes, even though things don't always go our way 100% of the time, we are amazed at how great life can be even in the midst of it.
We are so excited about everything happening in our lives, and so excited about the nice weather. Happy Summer everyone!

What We've All Been Waiting For...

She made it official on Monday, May 18th. Sienna took her very first steps!!! She walked toward Daddy several times, then squeeled with delight! I would have posted about it sooner, but our camera was dead, and go figure, Breck stole the charger and hid it somewhere! We finally found it, and got this little clip yesterday. I started filming a little late, and only got the last 2 steps of her journey, but you get the picture! It's her favorite thing to do now! We didn't really expect that this soon, she's only ten months old, and not only does she walk, but she gets up herself from the floor, AND from a squatting position! Breck walked before he was able to stand up without the help of a nearby wall or furniture (not that I am trying to compare them, I was perfectly content with the way Breck learned, it was just different with Sienna). We're so proud of you Sienna! We love you!

Farmer's Market!

I suppose I'm a full-fledged entrepenuer now! A few of my friends in my ward decided to start a booth at the farmer's market, Lyndee selling her haind-made purses, and Alyssa selling her hand-made girls' bows. Well, they recruited me a couple of weeks ago, so my time has been spent religiously crocheting beanies for kids for the last 2 weeks! Today was my first day selling, and we had a blast! The weather was perfect, so it was definitely nice spending time outside, and of course being in the company of good friends, but it was also cool to be selling something, and to be interacting with the people of Moscow! Today was graduation, so it was a slow day for everyone, (I sold two hats, but got 5 special orders for next week), but I really don't care about selling a ton. It's just fun to do something I like, and get feedback for it, while hanging out with good friends! I'll be doing it the whole summer, and early fall, so there's plenty of more excitement to come! Thanks guys for letting me come sell with you guys!



This was one of the more popular beanies that got a few orders


Me, Camille, Lyndee, and Alyssa

Mothers Day!

What a day! I feel like it was all a blur! We went to church in the morning, and had a great time there, we had excellent talks in sacrament meeting, and great lessons for 2nd and 3rd hours. When we got home, Josten watched the kids (who decided NOT to nap, by the way) while I took a 4 HOUR NAP!!! I can't even believe I slept that long! When I woke up, Josten had set up flowers that he had hidden until now, with some candy and a card. He was at that time bar-b-queing a nice dinner for us, and we ate it outside, enjoying the perfect weather! It was a great day, and I felt so grateful to be a mom to the best 2 kids in the world! I also feel so grateful for all the mothers in my life (my own mom, and the mothers in Josten's life) and for the influence they have had on our family. Thank you everyone! Happy Mothers Day!

A BIG Week!

We've got a BIG girl on our hands now! What a week! Our Sienna has morphed from a baby to a big girl right before our eyes! We started this week out with her getting into some big-people food (chips) and chowing them down!

The next day I found her like this: trying out Mommy's make-up!

After a big day, she wiped out early on the couch.

And last, but certainly not least, here is her newest big-girl feat... standing!

Good job Sienna! We're so proud of you, Big Girl!

One Year Older!

Another year come and gone, and here I find myself just a little bit older. I don't know what it has been about turning 23, but I just all of the sudden feel old. Maybe it's because my entire life was spent thinking people who were 23 were a ton older than me, or maybe it's just simply that 23 seems to be an age that people are looked at as real adults and not just old kids (most are done with college and into real jobs, getting married, etc.). Maybe it's the fact that I remember when Josten, who I view as much older than me, turned 23. I don't know, but I feel old. I look at my hands, and I relaized that they are not the hands they used to be. Part of that is probably a result of diaper change after diaper change, load of laundry after load of laundry, dish load after dish load, being too busy to stop and think about moisterizing like I used to at 18. But despite the changes I have noticed and felt, I'm happy to be 23; it's just one more year to celebrate that I'm healthy and extremely blessed with family and friends. It's been a great and busy year for me, a year of a lot of learning and growing as an individual and as a family.
This year, once again, my birthday was spread out over a few days. I wrote about the first celebration in my last post. My next celebration was on my birthday, (thursday) and it was so nice! My friend Alyssa came over and made me some yummy stir-fry for lunch, and we had a nice time visiting (we hardly get to anymore, we're both so busy!) and cathcing up. After that, my friend and visiting teacher, Trisha, brought me over some homemade wheat bread with homemade whipped honey butter. Oh my goodness... SOOOO GOOOOOOD!!! When Josten got home, we went out to Applebees (our favorite restaurant) to eat. When we got home, I opened all my stuff up, and got SPOILED, way beyond what I desereve. I got a lot of really nice cards too (including a beautiful homemade card from Mackenzie! Thanks girly, I love you!!!), everyone of them really made me feel special, and I'm not just saying that, they really did touch me. Thank you all!
On Sunday, we had a party with friends, which was great as well. It was so nice to hang out with everyone, let alone actually be there on a weekend! Thank you everyone who came, and everyone who called or e-mailed, left messages, etc., you all made my day so special!!!

Bonners Ferry and Birthday Celebrations!

The Destination this weekend was Bonners Ferry, as we went up to spend time with Josten's sister, Shasta and her family, and also to visit the school that Owen owns up in Montana for troubled teens, where Josten was going to help them out with some land navigation. The boys got up early and headed out. Josten had a great time teaching and spending time with the kids. He really enjoyed being with them, and they enjoyed him as well! After they were finished with the land nav, Owen and Josten went up into the mountains to go snowmobiling! It's a pity we didn't get any pictures of it though! We are VERY grateful they came home safely, as Josten crashed a few times, even having the snowmobile run over him, and pinch his head in between the skis! While the boys did their thing, Shasta and I got the kids ready, and took them to the park in Troy, Montana. It was such a cute little park, and the kids had so much fun together! We had them all packed into the van, every seat was occupied with a carseat except for mine and Shasta's! After that, we went through "Old McDonalds" to get some lunch, then went home to rest. Everyone was exhausted, including Shasta and I. Afterall, we were handling 5 kids under 4 years! We had such a good time with them, and we were so happy to be able to spend some quality time with their family! They were so kind to have us over! Thanks again guys! On sunday morning, we got up early to make it down for church at my mom's ward in Hayden. This was Mary and baby Sarah's last Sunday there. Mary is leaving to finally join her husband on thrusday, so we wanted to get some baby time in, since Sarah is FINALLY HOME from the hospital! Josten had never even seen her in person, so he wanted to be able to hold her and see her before too much time passed. We also went there because both mine and Mary's birthdays are this week (2 days apart) so we thought we'd have a celebration before Mary left, and have the last "joint" birthday party! It was a lot of fun, and dinner was awesome! We had steak,( my first of the season) and baked potatos with fruit salad. For any of you who know Josten, steak is his dream dinner, so my parent's thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to play a little joke on him! They decided to make a special plate just for him, of everything that he doesn't like, while we all had steak on our plates! The dinner included a garden burger patty, mango (he HATES mango), watermelon (not his favorite), and lima beans. He looked a little confused at first, but in the typical Josten manner, bounced back with a little smirk saying, "Wow, this looks good! Thank you!" We had a good laugh. We had a great time in both places this weekend, and were grateful to be able to spend time with our families. Nothing better than that!


Braden, Kaelynn, and Breck playing at the park!





All the Johnston cousins


Josten's fake dinner. Looks good to me, but I was happier to have that nice steak on my plate instead!




Gift Card to JoAnn's: VERY exciting!

BBQ Season!

It's FINALLY here! The time of year where you can smell everyone's Bar-B-Que up and running, while having a few of your own! In our house, BBQ's are a major part of the summertime. We find every excuse to have a bbq, we have them at least once a week, whether with just our family, or with friends, and we bbq anything and everything! We especially love having people over for a bbq, it just makes it more exciting. We had our first bar-b-que this week, which was so nice! We were able to lounge around outside, enjoy each other, and enjoy wonderful bbq'd hamburgers! We went on a walk afterwards to soak up more of the nice weather. Happy Bar-b-que season!!!

Easter Celebrations

It just seems like in our household, for one reason or another, we end up celebrating holidays over a span of a few days, rather than just one day. Around St. Patrick's Day we ate green for a whole week, and not just because we had left-overs! Valentine's Day was the same, celebrations all around the actual date. Well Easter this year was no exception! Part of the reason for that was that Josten was gone to another training from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. The celebration started Saturday morning (though it could have started earlier, if we had gone to the stake activity Friday night!) when we went to our ward's Easter Breakfast and Egg hunt! We had yummy pancakes and eggs, followed by an Easter egg hunt for all the kids! Breck caught on right away, which I was thrilled about, since this is actually the first year we've done anything like this with him. He had such a blast, but loved the candies inside the eggs even more than finding the actual eggs. That night, Breck and I read the Easter Story. On Sunday we went to church, and had a wonderfully uplifting Sacrament meeting. I had to teach sunday school, so after that hour we left to go up to Coeur d'Alene to have Easter dinner with my parents and sister. We got there around 1:30, and Mary and I went into Spokane to put little Sarah in an Easter dress that her Grandma and Grandpa Smidt got her. She had a little roomate that was tehre being dressed up as well, and so we wanted to get pictures with the two of them. She looked so adorable in her new dress, but even more, it was so wonderful to FINALLY get to hold her! The last time I saw her she had all the tubes on her, and not to mention the incubator. We got some good shots, but we had to get back for dinner, so we left. Dinner was fabulous as usual (Pork Roast, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, fruit salad, devilled eggs, and rolls!) and dessert was the usual "Robin's Nest" cake. Although we all had such a great time, we had to go and get back home because Daddy was home waiting for us. We did Easter baskets on Monday morning so that Josten could be there. Breck loved his jelly bean trail, and loved following it to his basket! Sienna started getting into following the trail as well, but soon gave up, as it wore her out! She soon perked up at the sight of the candy which she found very interesting! They loved their baskets, and it was cool for us to watch because it was the first time we had even done Easter baskets. That night for family Home Evening, we colored Easter Eggs, and watched a cartoon movie about the Easter Story. We had originally planned on having an egg hunt that night too, but we got started later than anticipated. So tonight (tuesday) we had the hunt, which went over really well too! Breck had a blast yet again, but was somewhat disappointed this time when the eggs didn't open up to reveal more candy. We let him eat some of his candy during it to make up for that! So here we are after 4 days of celebrating Easter, and I think we're finally done now! It was a great time, and I'm so grateful for the atoning sacrifice that Christ made for us so that we can be here, and enjoy our families, not only now, but for forever. That is worth a celebration all year round, by at least remembering why we are able to be happy... because He was willing to suffer. Happy Easter to all!

Look What I Can Do!

Sienna has now learned how to pull herself up on things, and since then, she's just done such a great job of playing on her own. Josten and I walked around the corner today to make sure she was alright when she was being too quiet, and found this...

Some Big Shoes to Fill

I meant to post this earlier, but somehow forgot in the string of family events and traveling, but Josten was going through his Army equipment a couple weeks ago, and as we all know, Breck loves to put on shoes, but he loves even more going through Dad's Army stuff! I decided to snap a few pictures, so here they are!

Road Trip!!!!

I must be out of my mind!!! We actually took another road trip down to Utah with BOTH kids!!!! 2 Utah trips in 2 months?!?! Well, we actually had a ton of fun. We left thursday so that we could have plenty of time. We really just wanted to make a vacation out of being on the road more than actually being in Utah for the vacation. Since we have the 2 kids, and couldn't actually go into conference, the trip was more for Josten's mission reunion.
I for one was absolutely sick of the drive from Moscow to Coeur d'Alene, so making that drive, on top of the 11 hours from Coeur d'Alene to Utah (which is also such a wonderfully entertaining drive) just made me want to vomit. So we decided to be adventurous and go down on highway 95 through Lewiston and Boise, then through Twin Falls. I have to say, I had a blast going that way. I think the drive is so cool on highway 95 from Moscow to Boise, so different and changing all the time! There's TONS of cute little towns too along the way, just small, but kept up.
We stopped in Riggins first and let the kids play on a playground there for a hour as we ate sandwiches. We stopped for the night in Boise, which we decided we wanted to see the temple and get a picture in front of it. It's right off the freeway, so it was easy to find. The next morning we headed out to Utah, but stopped in Twin Falls to eat lunch and see the new temple, and let the kids play. Well, the temple was gorgeous, but man, is that town windy!!! I seriously don't think I've ever experienced wind like that before! Not even in Moscow! I couldn't even get the car door open at one point because the wind was blowing so strong against it. Breck was actually getting blown around, to where he had no control! When we left, I'd say that was probably the worst part of the trip. Nothing bad happened, just nothing happened at all. No changes in scenery, no towns, no houses, just nothing. We got so bored, but luckily it was the last art of our journey.
We got to Ogden, and realized we probably needed to stop and finish getting ready for the reunion so we could just go straight there to be there by 6. We changed in a McDonald's bathroom, and ended up being 1/2 hour late to the reunion. When we got to the reunion, we noticed there was only one car there. It was Josten's mission president and his wife. We went in and realized that the reunion actually didn't start until 7, so we were actually a half hour early! Well, we were excited to be able to have that time with Josten's mission president and his wife. You can feel their love when you speak with them, and I know it made Josten's day to be around them again. Once the mission reunionstarted, we had fun too. It was good to see everyone that was there, but it was sad too, to find that a lot of people had moved out of the area, and that more were due to leave soon, meaning that this was probably one of the last times we would see some of these people again. After a bit, President and Sister Curtis sat us all down and gave us a spiritual thought. They have such a way of sparking the thought process and enticing the spirit to help us to remember the things we need to do, and what more we can do in our lives to progress.
That night we stayed in Utah, and we watched the morning session of conference. It was so nice to be able to hear our prophet speak to us, and the apostles as well. A talk that really stuck out in my mind that morning was Elder Hales' talk on being wise with our money and posessions. It was inspiring to hear. Josten and I have been fortunate to be able to have very little debt, we will come through school with hardly any debt (thanks to the military), and we don't have credit cards, etc. but this talk touched me on a different level. I think that staying out of debt for unnnecessary things is important, but I think what is more important, and what I was touched the most on in this talk was the importance of keeping our eye single to God in the midst of having the importance of things constantly shoved in our faces by the media and by eachother. Sometimes I get caught up in the thought "Oh it would be really nice to have this or that." or "I wish I had a nicer such and such", and those thoughts aren't good. Things don't define us, and they definitely do not fulfill anything but a need to have more. It helped me to realize that although we are students, and not the wealthiest of people, that we have been blessed beyond our needs, and that I don't need to have fancy things to be living the life I've always dreamed about. We've already got it all.
Well, after conference, we went and picked up some things from the distribution center, which was conveniently across the street from our hotel. Gotta love Utah. We then went around Temple Square a little bit, then decided to leave for Boise while listening to conference in the car. My favorite talk this time was a talk on faith, although I don't remember who gave it since, I wasn't seeing the face right in front of me. :)
We got to Boise around 9:30 and relaxed and let the kids play at the pool for a little. Breck loved it and didn't want to get out, but Sienna hated it. It was probably too cold for her liking. She's just like me! We stayed in Boise long enough to hear the morning session of conference, then we headed back out on the road again, and listen to the rest of conference in the car again. We loved both sessions, and I wish I could just go on and on about each of the talks, but I don't want to go on forever. If you missed them, or are curious about them at all, you can listen to them at lds.org . I think you can also go to the BYU website and watch them. You won't be disappointed!
Well, we ended up getting home around 5 which was nice, and we enjoyed being home. We really had a fun time, and believe it or not, the fun was in the traveling! We had fun finding fun, different places to stop, and taking in all of Idaho. What a great state we live in! We are grateful that we were able to have this time together and to be able to have fun. We are also grateful to be back home and to be safe!
For anyone in the Moscow area who is going to Utah at some point, I definitely suggest the route we took, granted that the weather conditons are good, and you're traveling during the day on the highway 95 part. That way is so much fun!

These pictures are in front of the Boise temple. The first you can't see us, the second you can't really see the temple. I figured if i put both on, it'd even out right?


This is a huge gorge immedietly outside of Twin Falls. Although the picture doesn't do it justice, it really was amazing.

Okay, these two really show how serious this wind in Twin Falls was. These were taken seconds apart from eachother, and as you can see, my hair is blowing in complete different directions. Strong gusts from every direction!


We had to take the pictures seperately because the wind kept knocking down the camera.

Needless to say, this picture was taken safely from the inside of the car.

This is our family with Josten's mission president and his wife. Amazing people!

This was taken in Council Idaho. We stopped there and saw this sign. Evidently they weren't thrilled about the highway. It's a little late.

These were also in Council. We found a school for Breck to play at.

Little Man

Breck is so eager to grow up and do everything like his dad! Although at the time I was a little less than thrilled, we recently caught him like this:

Josten informed me that earlier that day, he had been watching Josten shave, and that he was so eager to try it out. So when he got into the diaper rash cream, I suppose he thought it was the same thing. He's always trying to be just like Josten, and wants to be grown-up so bad!
As for Sienna, our little doll has 2 teeth now! She's getting more mobile, and she loves to try to walk. She mostly just walks with help, but also likes to climb up on the furniture and walk along it. She's tons of fun, and the kids are starting to play together SO well now!

Vancey Pants' Blessing

Family get-togethers are so much fun! What makes them more great is when they happen for such a happy reason such as a baby blessing! What makes that even more great is that in such a growing family, with several growing individual families, these happen often! We were blessed to be able to be a part of Vance Morton's blessing this weekend. And I really mean we were blessed to be able to be there. We awoke sunday morning feeling confident that we could easily make it up for Shawnte and Cameron's ward at 12:30, until we looked out the window. There we saw, at the end of March, a big, huge, BLIZZARD!!! We had probably accumulated 6 inches overnight, and it was not letting up! Of course we had not planned for this, thinking it would only take us an hour and a half! Well, we got ready as quickly as we could, but didn't make it out the door until about 10:45. We said a prayer that we would be able to make it in time for the blessing, but it wasn't looking good. The roads were horrible, and what usually takes us a half hour, took us a full hour. We didn't look at our clocks, because we knew we wouldn't make it in time. We had lost so much time, and even though the roads cleared up about half way (learning that there was NO snow in Coeur d'Alene) we still had a ways to go, and wasted too much time in the beginning of the drive. As we approached the street of the chapel, we looked at our watch, and to our amazement, the time said 12:35. Just 5 minutes late to the ward, and we lost ALL that time!?!!? So we found a parking spot, hurried in JUST as we saw Cameron and family members start to get up to go bless Vance! We made it! And by a split second! Later, while talking to family, they all mentioned how many announcements there happened to have been, and how slow the member of the bishopric gave them! It's almost as if he knew we were trying to get there! Well, the blessing was so sweet, Cameron did an awesome job! We enjoyed the time we had with family too, though we missed those who couldn't make it! We sat around the rest of the afternoon and enjoyed good food, good company, and watching the kids have a blast togehter!

2 Year Photo Shoot

Today I just took Breck's 2-year photos. We had a blast! Here are some of my favorites, (of course I loved them all!).

Breck's BEE-day party!

Saturday was Breck's 2nd birthday party, and he had a blast!!! It was a "bee" theme, and we all dressed up in our best bee attire! Breck was sleeping when all the guest arrived (who were Nana C., Grandpa and Grandma J., Uncle Cameron, Aunt Shawnte', and cousin Vance, and Aunt Mary) so when he woke up and came down stairs, it was somewhat of a surprise party! He squealed with delight, and went straight to the crowd!We did a number of fun little activities such as "Pin the stinger on the Bee" (which Breck actually won), a "who knows Breck best" game, and song time. During song time, Breck was having such a good time, that he decided to get up and dance for everyone! What a funny guy. We then sang to him and then opened presents. He got a lot of nice things, yet again! Thanks everyone! We then just ate some fun "bee" food and cake, and enjoyed "Bee Movie", and good company. Happy BEE-Day Breck!



This is the beehive cake I made Breck



Deviled Bees




Breck in his Bee party hat



Breck dancing while we sang!







Watching "Bee Movie"

Breck's Family Party

Last night, on Breck's real birthday, we had his family party. It was pretty laid-back, since we are doing a bigger party this weekend with family and friends. Poor Breck had to get a vaccine, which he hated, but that was the time they were able to get him in. Mommy made special cupcakes for him, neon-green cake with bright blue frosting! He loved them! After we sang "Happy Birthday", he knew immedietly that he had to blow out the candles! I guess having a big family with lots of birthday parties helps! He had fun opening the presents too, his favorite being some Dr. Suess books he got! He wanted us to read them to him the rest of the night! We had a great time with him, and hope he had a great time as well. There's more partying to come!!!

Brecky, You're TWO!!!

Well, well, well, here we are another year later! And what a fun little boy our Breck has turned into! This year has been a busy one with the Breckster, between finding his legs, to learning to do all sorts of things, to the arrival of his new little sister! He does so many things, now, I can't even believe he used to be such a tiny, helpless baby, just 2 years ago! He has great manners, he always says please (peece) and thank you (tank-yooooo) and will always greet you with a warm "HI!!!!" He is so good hearted, he LOVES his little sister, and and although she's catching up to him in size, he still tries to hold her, burp her, etc. He loves to read to her. He remembers lines from most of his books and will open the books and repeat those lines (or how they sound to him) to her. He's pretty good at his shapes, body parts, and working on colors. He's learning to count, and he can so far get to 4, but he pretends he knows up to ten. He does so well in church, we hardly ever have to take him out of sacrament meeting. He will just sit there with his arms folded for the most part, or look through the hymn book. He loves to "conduct" the hymn with his arm, and sing along, even though he isn't quite on with the rest of us, but that's what makes it cute. He even says "Amen" after all the prayers, testimonies, and talks. He loves cars (real, toys, and the movie), he loves throwing balls, and hitting them with golf clubs, he loves chocolate anything (could that be because Mommy craved it her whole pregnancy with him?), and reading. His favorite books by far are Dr. Suess. He loves the rhymes and the bright colors, and interesting drawings. This year he had his first day in nursery, and LOVES it! He recieved his first kiss this year from his little girlfriend, Payton Dalling. Those two play together so well, but I'll tell ya, they can cause some mischief together too! Well, I think Breck's more capable of the mischief, and Payton just happens to be there. He also had his first Poo Poo in the toilet about a month ago! We were pretty excited, though he's still not really potty-trained. He's just kind of easing his way into it! He's also learning how to dress himself. He has a hard time with all the holes of the shirt, but puts his pants on really well! He likes doing shoes, socks and hats too! One thing though that I think would describe Breck more than anything this past year is mechanical! He loves taking EVERYTHING apart, and try to put it back together! You can always tell when Breck's been somewhere, because something has been taken apart and put somewhere random (i.e. socket faceplates unscrewed with a plastic knife, and stuck in the diaper wipes container, crystal angels from Grandpa and Grandma's, and stuck them in the refrigereator along with 9 other household items, learned to unlock doors with a bobby pin, etc. etc. etc.!!!) I could seriously go on forever all the things he takes apart, and all of the things he tries to put away in random spots! What a joy Breck is in our home! What would we do without him? He's constantly bringing smiles to our faces by just being his sweet, happy, mischievous, smart, and crazy self! We love you Breck! Happy Two Years!!!

I Wasn't Kidding

Breck loves shoes. I mean LOVES shoes. One of the first words he attempted was "shoes". It remains to be one of the words that he still says best and most clear. A few weeks ago I wrote at the end of a post that Breck's new hobby was trying on "big-people" shoes. I think the pictures below fully prove my point!



Here's the original photo I posted



Mommy's Uggs



Once again, I might add that we did NOT put these shoes on him. He did this himself!



Even things that don't go on our feet somehow make a new and stylish debut.

(Not pictured: Breck wearing Mommy's flip-flops, which he puts on CORRECTLY)

Bathing Babies

Every time we bathe our kids it's a new adventure! They are so cute together in the bath, and both have such a great time! Brecks loves to swim, so he takes the opportunity to "swim" around in the tub, blow bubbles, and even drink the water (kind of nasty). Sienna just enjoys watching her big brother, and kicking back in the warm water! The other night they were being especially cute, so I had to share. We also got a funny video of Breck being down-right crazy in the water!

Poor Guy

I thought this video was too funny not to share. Apparently he had one too many shots of novocain.

ROTC "Dining Out" Ball

Who said after Senior Ball you don't get to go to a formal ball again? Well, in the Army we get to! We got all dressed up, Josten in his Class A's, and me in a dress to enjoy an evening of Prime Rib, music and dancing, and good company. It was the annual Army ROTC "Dining Out" Ball, held for the cadets. Josten was the MC, and we were so proud of him! He did such a great job! They conveniently had a babysitting service there too, so that made it easy for us with the kids!It was a great night, and we are looking forward to many more to come!

Josten and two of his good friends in ROTC

Josten talking to the crowd

Most of our table

Our Late Valentine's Celebration

Josten and I were both gone in separate places during Valentine's Day; Josten off to another training, and I was gone to Utah. So we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day this last weekend! It was way fun, Josten brought me home roses and daffodils, which are my favorite flowers, and I made Josten a lunch bag with a "coupon" for free lunches made by me for the rest of the semester. We then went to this fancy restaurant in town called "West of Paris", which has really nice French cuisine! Josten of course had the filet mignon, I had duck, which just melted in my mouth! To give you perspective on how yummy this food really was, they didn't give us a knife to cut our meat with. we each had a butter knife, and that was more than enough to slice through our meat selections! After our fancy dinner, we went to Baskin Robbins for dessert, which was a little more relaxed, a little more our style! When we came home, Josten had a little surprise for me, he had my wedding rings re-set and sized. When we moved to Moscow, the prongs on my ring came loose, and the diamond started to come loose too. Out of fear that I would lose it, I didn't wear it, and haven't worn it since. But now I can finally wear them again! What a nice surprise! Breck and Sienna made a cute little Valentine for Daddy, and Breck enjoyed making and eating Valentine cookies, and eating chocolates! What a fun day of spreading the love!

Utah Trip

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately, but I've been super busy! One of the things that has kept me busy is planning for, and enjoying a trip to Utah with my sister-in-law, Shawnte'. It was crazy because we both had babies with us, so that kept things interesting! Josten had an Army training, so Nana Cornett, Aunt Shasta, and Brittney C. were all so kind to help watch Breck! Well, for the first 3 days, he stayed up at Aunt Shasta's house, whose kids were being watched by Nana. Breck had a blast with Braden, Kaelynn and Makenna! Then, after Nana went home, Aunt Shasta took over. Then Brittney was such a dear to offer to watch him the last day! Anyway, so we had little one-month-old Vance, and 7 1/2 month-old Sienna in a car for 10 hours! They did surprisingly well, and actually the trip down was one of our favorite parts! We were acting like such goof balls! I guess that's what happens when you're already a sleep-deprived mom, then plan to leave for a 10 hour car trip at 3 in the morning! Shawnte' was a nanny in New York for awhile, and the family that she nannied for came to Utah for a visit. So we decided to go see them, which was a blast! They were so cool! They took us out to dinner the first night, then the last night they made us a huge steak dinner! They were the type of people you grow to love immedietly! We were also lucky to be able to spend some time with Javis and Chaylia, since they live down there now. Thanks guys for letting us stay with you! On Monday we were able to visit temple square, just the girls, me, Shawnte' and Chaylia! We had a load of fun! It doesn't matter how much I see that stuff, it never ceases to amaze me! We were crazy and left to go back home at 11 p.m. on tuesday! We thought that way the kids could sleep the entire way. I tworked out pretty well, although we are both SO exhausted! What a blast! Can't wait for the next trip!

We went to Garden City by Bear Lake, and we stopped at the Logan Temple on our way. We tried FORVER to get a good picture, but as you can see above, the temple kept getting cut off.

We finally waved down a car to take our picture.

On Temple Square

We started acting goofy and took modeling pictures at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. This was one of mine. The funny thing is, there were people all around us just watching while we coached eachother "Put your hand on your waist, other hand on the window, gaze ponderingly out the window"

Just the girls!

More Pictures of Tiny Baby

Sarah Marie Smidt was taken by C-section this morning around 7:00, weighing 1 lb. 13 oz. Mary is in recovery, and Sarah was taken to the NICU. Sarah has been checked on all her vitals, and she is doing very well. She's perfectly healthy, just not ready to go out in the huge world yet! She will be in the NICU for 12 weeks. Mary is doing a lot better, since delivery is the only cure for preeclampsia. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Above are little Sarah's foot prints, compared to Breck's NEWBORN foot prints!

The one above speaks for itself

In her parents' care

Mary's Itty-Bitty Baby

On Thursday we recieved a call from my (Sarah) parents, who were at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. They said Mary had developed Preeclampsia, and her doctor sent her over to Sacred Heart to have more tests, and to get some medication. They found out that her condition is severe, and that she has to be on hospital bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy. But the good news (sort-of) is that her pregnancy will not be lasting for much more than a week! They have to take the baby by C-section soon, or she is at risk of a stroke. The baby will be approximately 29 weeks in gestation. So to say the least, Mary will be having an itty bitty little girl! Luckily, they say that the outcome should be pretty positive. Mary's past the danger zone in her pregnancy, although the baby will be in the NICU for about a month. Also lucky for her, Kevin came home today, so he will be able to be there as well! We were able to visit Mary this weekend, and give her some company. It's tough, because she, for the most part, feels fine, so being on complete bed-rest is killing her! She's in pretty high spirits, and just accepting whatever comes. Also, while we were in the area, we were able to see Vance again without the tubes this time! Josten was able to hold him, which he was really excited about! We also were able to see Jeremy and Amy's new baby girl Mylie, who is just 3 days old! She was absolutely beautiful, and Breck fell in love too! Actually, he loved her so much that he kept trying to lick her! Kind of nasty but cute at the same time! We'll keep you posted on Mary's situation!

Here's some pictures of little Vance:

Below is a picture of Vance wearing the little booties I made him

And this is what Breck decided to do while we were packing. It's his new thing, he loves getting into our shoes! (Even Mommy's stillettos!)

High School Tag

1. What year did you graduate? 2004


2. Did you date someone from high school? Nope, well unless you count a week-long relationship freshman year dating.


3. What kind of car did you drive? Most of the time I drove the Family Taurus. My parents surprised me early my senior year with a black jeep cheroke


4. What was the most embarrassing moment of high school? Pretty much the entire thing. I often look back at various moments and cringe. Most of them had to do with boys, and me being so awkward around them.


5. Were you a party animal? I acted like I was (I'm talking party in the sense of just having a good time, not alcohol sort of party), but I was really just a home-body.


6. Were you considered a flirt? I liked a lot of guys, but I never flirted. I was way too shy


7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I was in orchestra freshman and sophomore year


8.Were you a nerd? Yes. I was awkward, shy, and self-consious. I mean, I didn't wear coke-bottle glasses with tape and pants up to my rib-cage if that's what you mean, but I wasn't cool.


9. Where you on any varsity teams? Hehe...no. Let's just say I wasn't exactly gifted in these areas.


10.Did you get suspended/expelled? Nope


11. Can you still sing the fight song? No, I can't even remember the tune. Did it have words?


12. Who were your favorite teachers? Ms. Carlson, Mr. Hastings


13. What classes do you wish you would have taken? I wanted to take Spanish 4 Senior year, but they didn't offer it. Besides that, there's nothing I really would have cared to be taught at the high school level.


14.What was your school's full name? Coeur d' Alene High School


15. School mascot?Vikings


16. Did you go to Homecoming and who with? Homecoming was just your ordinary dance (not formal) where the girls try and wear as little as possible, and guys try to...you know...


17. Where did you go on "Senior Skip Day"? I'm lame. I went to school. I had a class that was offering extra credit if we went, so i did.


18. Were you in any clubs? DECA (business club)


19.Who was your prom date? I actually never got asked to either of my proms. I had to import both of my dates from Spokane. One was named Derek,( I don't remember the last name) and the other was my really good friend, Danny Olson for Senior Ball.


20.What do you remember most about graduation? Feeling the overwhelming sense of "FINALLY!" My senior year was torture, I felt so done with high school, but still had a whole year left!


21. What advice would you give yourself? Like Chelsea, I would give different advice for different years. Freshman "Grow up" Sophomore "Dont' get so worked up over things" Junior, well I pretty much enjoyed most of my junior year, Senior "Do your homework"


22. Are you planning on going to your reunions? Yeah, probably, depending on life circumstances


23. If you could go back and do it again would you? No way

I found this picture on Chelsea's blog and thought it was hilarious

Oh yeah, and I tag Shasta, Chaylia, Karen, and Suzi

Moving

So it's pretty official now. We are moving. We are of course still staying in Moscow, but sadly, not in our same ward. It was a tough decision to make, but in the end seemed like it was right for our family. We hadn't even planned on moving until July, and even then, we planned on finding something bigger within our ward boundaries. Well, our former manager came to our place about a week ago, saying that the comlpex she now works for is looking for a part-time maintainance worker. She immedietly thought of Josten. They needed whoever was going to take the job to be living at the apartment complex. We weren't even really thinking seriously about the proposition until she threw in that rent would be FREE with free utilities and free internet. On top of that, we'd get paid. So after much consideration, we decided to move forward with it, and we will be moving out within the month. We are very sad to be moving out of our ward, and are so grateful for the experiences we have had with our ward, and are excited to start a new chapter as well. For all of our friends in our current ward, we still live in the same town, so we'll still have to get together!!!

Visiting Vance

Cameron and Shawnte' just had their sweet little boy on January 15, 2009 at 8:48 a.m. His name is Vance Nathaniel Morton, he was born at 6 lbs. 15 oz., and 19 inches long. After a few hours, his parent's noticed he was breathing really fast, and the nurses took him away to check him out. A few hours passed by and his parents, growing increasingly nervous, asked a nurse what was the matter. They found out that he had been born with water in his lungs that had developed a bacteria, and he had developed pnemonia. They put him on an antibiotic, and he is improving everyday. He is going to be there until this thursday, so keep them in your prayers! We were able to visit them this weekend, and spend a little time with them. He is so tiny, and the poor thing has tubes everywhere, but he is still so precious! We love him so much, and can't wait to spend more time with him. On another note, while we were at the hospital, we were hanging out with Shawnte' in the waiting room, and Sienna crawled for the first time! I kept missing it, so I didn't quite get it on video, but I got a picture in the middle of it! Here's some sweet little pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Sickies

This week was a bit of a toughy! First Breck got sick, with diarhea for 6 days, then throwing up the last day. Josten evidently caught it, and it was, what he described as, like having food poisoning for a week, but not being able to say "okay, only 4 more hours". He ended up having to go to the hospital on Wednesday, to be put on an IV for fluids. He had gotten a virus that supposedly is going around right now, and evidently it lasts for a week. He was so dehydrated, and he couldn't keep any liquids down. We had Breck checked out too, but he was pretty much past it all. They said he wasn't too dehydrated. They also had to give Josten Zofran to help ease his stomach and so he could actually keep liquids down. Well that helped a little for 3 days for the nausea, but the other end was still going, if you catch my drift. He also had extreme abdominal pains for the entire time. Last night, after not throwing up for 3 days, (but still being sick), he threw up 3 times in a row, collapsed on the couch, then woke up a few hours later with no sickness at all. He said all he felt was a little tired and very hungry. So, I just wanted to let you guys all know, if you have diarhea for more than a day, go to the doctor to get the Zofran, so that when the nausea sets in, you can be prepared, and not get too dehydrated.

Extra! Extra! Mary's having a baby girl!

Well it's time for another baby shower! My sister Mary is pregnant with her first little baby, a girl, and the time came for her to have a shower! She's such a tough cookie, she's gone through most of her pregnancy alone; her husband, being a marine, has been gone here and there for BOOT camp and additional trainings. It's been tough for both of them, naturally he would rather be there experiencing the pregnancy than trudging through the dirt and mud, doing push-ups, and getting yelled at. Mary and Kevin will be moving soon to California, so we wanted to have her shower sometime soon, before they leave. It was a "headline" theme, Mary's baby girl Sarah making the front page! We just had an absolute blast, and Mary got TONS of nice stuff! Not to mention all of the things she had already recieved from her work's baby shower! She's set to go! We played some fun games, including a "Left-Right gift pass", a matching game where we had to match as many pairs of baby socks as we could in 15 seconds, and a mommy multi-tasking game. We had such a fun time visiting, and even more fun seeing all the sweet baby girl stuff! Well, we are so excited for Mary, and we can't wait to see little Sarah!

Mary at 26 weeks

The "Left-Right" Story game

The Mommy Multi-Tasking Game

The words "Thou Shalt Not Covet" enter my brain here

This was the bedding I made for Mary

This is what the bedding looks like on an actual crib, I tested it out on Breck's crib first.

You're invited!

This is the cake I made, in case you can't tell, those are booties on top. They didn't turn out as distinguished as I had hoped.

Here's a little better view of the table. (Sorry, it's the best one we have.)

These are the party favors that never made it out. We forgot about them! (They're baby washcloths, and they say, "Thank you for sharing this sweet experience with us! 2009")

Our little Bug is half a year!!!

Well it's been a quick six months to say the least! Sienna has gone from a sweet, quiet newborn, to a beautiful, curious, and hilarious baby girl! It seems like she's always been a part of our family, and we certainly can't imagine our family without her! Here is what she is up to these days:

• She's trying to crawl. Just a little more focus, and she'll have it!


• She sits up.


• She laughs at just about everything. She laughs when you laugh, she laughs when she's tickled, she laughs at toys she plays with, and she laughs at her big brother!


• She rolls around like there's no tomorrow! It's her main mode of transportation.


• She loves her Jumperoo.


• She loves her big brother Breck, who loves her in return.


• She likes to grab everything. Especially Mommy's hair, maybe it's time for another cut...


• She loves to razz (the spitty sound with the mouth)


• She can wear a pony tail every once in awhile. (Granted, a few clips are used, but it's cute none-the-less!)


• She's cutting her first tooth!


• She loves to be read to.


• She LOVES attention, and knows when she's getting it, yet she's very demure about it.


• She's really tall.

Well, we just love our little girl, and can't imagine the joy that this next 6 months will bring!

Celebrating New Years

Another holiday comes and goes, and yet again we are left here hardly believing how quickly time passes. We spent New Years just as our family, for a couple of reasons. The first being that We had just come home from Coeur d'Alene, and didn't feel like making another trip up there to celebrate. The second being that all of our friends in Moscow have gone "South" for the winter (i.e., they went home to Southern Idaho or further south, some even further east, for the semester break) and we are pretty much the only ones left here in Moscow. We decided to make New Years a day of great food. It's a tradition in my (sarah) family to have eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce in the morning, so we decided that would be a nice tradition to keep. We had eggs benedict, had Christmas ham sandwiches for lunch, and then for dinner we had king crab legs. They were so yummy, and we were thrilled that they turned out because I have never in my life made anything like that before! Josten was also kind enough to make his special spicy guacamole, along with regular guacamole to snack on during the day! There are a couple of traditions that we want to start for New Years, and would have done it this year had circumstances been different. First, we would have lit off fireworks, but both our kids were asleep, so it seemed kind of pointless to just light off fireworks for the two of us. Maybe when the kids are older, or when we have more company. Second, we had planned to go shooting on New Years Day, but the kids decided to take extra long naps that day, and didn't wake up until 3, and we didn't have them ready until 4, then it started to get dark. We tried to go the day after, but then we got a huge snow storm, and the roads even in town were the worst I've seen all winter, so we felt nervous about the road conditions out of town, let alone, in the mountains. But Hopefully next year will be a year where we fulfill all of our New Years traditions, and even though we didn't this year, we still had a blast with eachother, and coming up with what our traditions will be!

Happy 2009!

Well, make way 2009, for the Cornett family! We've had a great and BUSY year, and we're ready for more! Looking back, we have had so many sweet memories in 2008, along with great blessings. I had originally thought about posting pictures from the last year, but then I remembered that that is what this blog is all about. If you want to see our lives in 2008, just look through our blog. But we do want to list a few of our favorite moments, and blessings.

• We started the year off in the hospital when Breck got a rare bacteria called C-Diff. (it's an abbreviation used by the nurses and doctors, I don't remember the whole name)
• Chaylia was Baptized
• Makenna had her baby blessing
• We found out we were having a girl
• Breck turned 1
• Time Out for Women
• Josten joined the Army
• Josten went to Leaders Training Course
• Josten came back one day before Sienna was born
• Sienna was born on the 4th of July
• Javis and Chaylia got married
• Kevin and Mary expecting their first baby girl
• Cameron and Shawnte' extecting their first baby boy
• Halloween was a blast for us
• Getting more school finished
• Financial Blessings, and a couple of miracles!
• Our first Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family

There were so many other things too, but I could go on forever about everything. We have so many goals and hopes for this new year. We hope to become better people individually, and a better family as a whole. We hope and anticipate that 2009 will bring many great memories, and experiences that will shape us and distinguish us. We are so grateful for all the blessings we have been givin, and grateful for the things yet to come.

(Two things that we think of when we look back on 2008)

A growing family

The Army

Josten and Breck go to Grandpa and Grandma Cornett's

This last weekend, after all the Christmas festivities came to a close, Josten took Breck to see Grandpa and Grandma Cornett in the Tri-Cities! Mommy and Sienna would have gone too, but Mommy had a close friend from high school that got married, whose reception was that weekend. We wished we could have seen everyone, but hopefully we will make another trip soon! So, despite the horrific road conditions (Josten saw a semi truck jack-knife into a cliff and explode... yes, I said explode) Daddy and Breck finally made it down to Grandpa's. Daddy got a new rifle for christmas that happened to be the EXACT same rifle that Grandpa had! They had a fun day out shooting with Uncle Jayden! Another exciting thing that happened was the announcement of Aunt Karen and Uncle Travis' NEW BABY that they are expecting in August! HOORAY!!! That will make a grand total of SEVEN kids for them! We are so excited! Breck had a great time and loved playing with his cousins, and charming his Grandma Katrina! It was such a great trip for them, and we really hope we can all make a visit sometime soon!

Breck had a great time, but was so excited to see his little sister again!

Dad Johnston is 60!!!

We had Dad Johnston's Birthday the weekend before Christmas, and he turned 60 this year! My goodness! I remember when he turned 40! Well, we had a good time, and we hope he had fun too. It was nice that we were all able to be there to celebrate! We love you Dad, Happy Birthday!

Christmas Love

We had such a wonderful Chrismas this year! It was our first as just our little family, which made it that much more special! It's a tradition in the Johnston home to have hors d'oeuvres for dinner on Christmas Eve, since there is a huge meal to prepare the next day. So we decided to inherit this tradition as our own. We had shrimp, cheese and crackers, veggi platter, and homemade wassail! After we ate, we drove around Moscow to look at Christmas lights. This was quite the adventure since we have a small sedan, and it snowed NON-STOP that day! We got stuck once, and a couple of other times, we couldn't make it to the end of the street because the street had too steep of an incline. But we did get to see some good houses, which was fun. We went back home, and we read the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2, and then we read a story that Grandpa and Grandma Cornett got us for Christmas called "The Tale of Three Trees". It's really good, and I would suggest making it a part of your Christmas traditions! After that, the kids got to open one gift; their Christmas pajamas! We were pleasantly surprised on Christmas morning to wake up to a phone call from Uncle Jovi, our family's missionary serving in Pittsburg. It was so great to hear from him, and hear how well he is doing! After that, we opened our stockings. Breck was so into his candy and his hot wheels, that he was fine not opening the rest of his gifts! Let's just say it took a little bit of encouragement to get him over to the tree. We opened presents which was really fun, because a lot of our gifts were homemade this year. Of course, we did end up buying some gifts too, you just can't help it when you're in the store and you see something that you KNOW your child will love! Josten finished some really cute chairs for the kids. Sienna's is a rocking chair, and Breck's is a chair for a little desk Josten made for him last summer. Josten made me a cute little sign for the home that says "Family: Love at Home". I made Sienna a tutu, and an apron. For Breck I made a tie, and a blanket. For Josten I made a tie to match Breck's. Although the other gifts we gave and recieved were nice too, it was the most fun to open the homemade ones to see the reactions and to feel the love that went into them. That night, we had Christmas dinner, which was yummy. A few things didn't go according to plan, but nothing went horribly wrong. We were so full that we didn't even want to eat pie! We finished the night by watching "It's a Wonderful Life". The next day we headed up to Coeur d'Alene to spend some Christmas time with our families. We stopped first at Nana Cornett's house. We spent time eating yummy Christmas food with Nana, Uncle Javis and Aunt Chaylia, and Uncle Cameron and Aunt Shawnte'. After that, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Johnston's house to open Christmas Presents. We had left-overs from their Christmas dinner, then opened stickings and presents. The next day, Josten went to the Tri-Cities to visit Grandpa and Grandma Cornett while I stayed in Cd'A for a wedding reception of one of my good friends from high school. More to come about Josten's trip soon!

Sienna's Christmas Pajamas (unopened)

Breck and his Christmas Pajamas

Daddy and Sienna opening stockings

Breck and his stocking

Mommy's stocking

Breck's Tie

Placemats that Grandma Katrina made for the kids!

Sienna's Apron

Sienna's Tutu

Sienna in her chair

We got Breck a little laptop so that he might be ablt to stay away from our computers!

Christmas Dinner

Breck opening his stocking from Grandpa and Grandma

Sienna's "My first Christmas" hat with matching stocking!

Army vehicles!

Porshe

This is a rocking horse that was custom-made for Breck and Sienna from Grandpa and Grandma-Great (Johnston).

Sienna in a pretty winter dress she got from Uncle Kevin and Aunt Mary

Family Pictures

We got these pictures a couple of months ago, but I was under strict promise not to post them on the blog until after my parents sent out Christmas cards. We got these taken when Sienna was about a month old. We had fun, but now we're going to have to re-take them because Kevin and Mary's upcoming addition! I guess that's how it goes when families grow and grow!

This last picture, I framed before I scanned it, so I had to just take a picture of it, so that's why it's the way it is.

Christmas Pictures!!!

So it's that time of year again where we get all dressed up for a 2 second click of the camera! What's hilarious is that the kids seem to know that you want them to smile, so they do anything but! However, we managed to get a few cute ones, so here they are for your viewing pleasure!

This ended up being the winner for our Christmas cards

None of these tree ones turned out as planned, but here's a decent one

And Breck just wasn't happy while taking the kiddy pictures!

So we focused on Sienna!

Ugly Sweater Party

We had our ward Christmas party this weekend. Sadly, Josten wasn't able to make it because they had a commissioning ceremony for those in ROTC who were graduating. The three of us had a great time though. We dressed up in ugly sweaters (actually I really like the sweaters that all 3 of us wore, and we would wear them on any other day too, but hey, they could be considered ugly... at least mine) and we ate a nice pizza dinner! We played a game there of "Guess the Baby" where we had everyone's baby pictures, and we had to guess who was who. We sang carols and afterwards.... Santa came!!! Well, we had high hopes that Breck would warmly greet Santa, however those wishes did not come true. It was the classic Kid-Screaming-On-Santa's-Lap scenario. It even took him about 15 minutes of clutching onto me afterwards to get him to finally calm down. He didn't trust me letting him down the rest of the night, but I don't blame him. We passed Santa in the mall again yesterday as we were doing some Christmas shopping, and I felt Breck's grip slowly tighten on my shoulder. He still hadn't forgotten the trauma. Anyway, We did have a really good time, and it was so nice to mingle with our friends, and spread some holiday cheer!

Army-Navy Football Game

Tonight was the annual Army-Navy Football game. Since it was about 30 degrees outside, we bundled up, bundled the kids up, and we all went to the game. Josten did very well. He was on defense most of the time. He did a great job of taking those Navy guys out! He got a lot of playing time, which was good, and fun for us to watch! The kids had fun, though towards the end, Breck wanted to get up and go out there with Josten! The Navy ended up winning by 2 touchdowns, but we were still proud of our Army Dad! Way to go Dad!

Yes. They played in shorts.

This is Josten taking someone out

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Another excursion for the Cornett home started today as we set off to find a Christmas tree! We found out that in Latah County you do not have to get a permit to cut down a tree, therefore, it is free, as long as you take it from state-owned land, and limit your selection to one tree per family. Well, we really only did need one tree, so this was good news. We heard there was a good selection up near Bovill at this nice little place called Moose Creek Resevior. It's a really pretty place, though it reminds me a lot of Spring Valley Resevior. But anyway, We drove up a little side road near the resevior, and began our hunt. It seemed all of the trees were a little Charlie Brown-ish, so we kept looking and looking. Soon, Sienna was getting cold and restless in her Maya wrap, and Breck was tired of being on Daddy's shoulders. We were hoping to just get one and go at this point, and were pretty much open to anything that was green. I was just about to say that we should settle on one, when I took two steps to the right, and found The One. It almost glowed it was so perfect. So I took the kids jubilantly back to the car, while Josten cut the tree down, and tied it to the top of the car - Griswald style. We took it home and decorated it while watching Christmas movies. I don't think the Christmas season can quite start without a Christmas tree, and now I think we're finally catching that Christmas bug!

Javis and Chaylia come to Visit

We were able to have a short but sweet visit from Uncle Javis and Aunt Chaylia today! Josten invited Javis to go rappelling with him for ROTC, so Chaylia came down to to have a craft day with me! We made star tree ornaments. They were fun to make, and to our delight, turned out well. Javis had a fun time rappelling; they went inside the Kibbie dome at the U of I, which is pretty high up! We were able to have dinner with them, but they had to go home shortly after because of work and school. We love you guys! Come again soon!

After-Thanksgiving Weekend

Well Thanksgiving was wonderful, and soon after we were on our way up to Coeur d'Alene. We left on Friday, and got there just before the Lighting Festival downtown Coeur d'Alene. We ended up getting there way later than expected, and only caught the last stretch of the fireworks, and the actual lighting of the Christmas lights. The weather was horrible, it had just snowed that day up in Coeur d'Alene, which we hadn't expected since it was dry in Moscow. It had turned to sleet by the time we went downtown, which made us wet AND cold! But regardless of how I am making it sound, we really did have a good time. We went inside afterwards and looked at the Festival of Trees. All of the trees were really cool. After that, we finally found Cameron and Shawnte' and went out to dinner with them. After we left the restaurant, we visited Javis and Chaylia, who we were supposed to spend the evening with, but we got separated from in the huge mass of people. We chatted for a little bit then went to my parents' house. The next day we had a family dinner with my family because my brother-in-law Kevin just got home from BOOT camp after 3 months. It was good to be reunited and to see he and Mary together after so long. That night we went over to Josten's mom's house, and spent the night. We were able to visit our old ward together, then later, we had Thanksgiving with his family. It was tons of fun, we played Family Fued, Cornetts vs. In-Laws (Shasta, Josten, Shawnte' and Javis against Owen, Me, Cameron, and Chaylia) and the Cornetts won, but don't worry... no hard feelings! :) We also had Christmas Kareoke, which definitely brought that little tingle of Christmas cheer! After dinner, we ate some wonderful pies and enjoyed company until we had to go back home to Moscow. Now... Onto the Christmas Season!

Poor little Kaelynn was so wiped that she fell asleep during the Kareoke!

Makenna is growing up before our eyes! Wasn't she JUST born?!?!

One of those pictures that just makes you go "AWWWWW!"

Our Game faces...GRRRRRRRR

Bring it On.

Breck and Braden had a blast together as Uncle Cameron entertained them!

Thanksgiving Day

Oh there's so much to be grateful for. And it is so wonderful to have an entire day dedicated to reflecting on those things. 2008 has been bountiful in the blessings department in the Cornett family. Some things we're thankful for:

-Our little (but growing) family.

-Safe arrival of Sienna

-Josten's ability to be at Sienna's birth

-Various financial blessings (a couple of miracles, and some just great blessings)

-ROTC

-Our health

-Our extended families

-3+ wonderful years of marraige

-A cozy home

-Wonderful friends both here in Moscow, and all around

-And of course, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the happinness it has brought into our lives as individuals and as a family, and the means by which it was brought about to us here today.

This year for Thanksgiving we had our first ever Thanksgiving at our own home. It was just the 4 of us. Sarah had a blast cooking it all. We are happy to say also that there were no major flub ups! Everything went amazingly smooth, which was a surprise to Sarah, at least! We started the day with Josten and Breck going to play football, which has and will be a traditon with all the Cornett boys. They came home to hot chocolate with marshmallows, and 3 different types of 'cake" breads; cranberry, zucchini, and pumpkin. We had dinner a little later than expected, the turkey took a little longer than it said it would. It sure is amazing how fast food can go when it took 3 days to make! We followed dinner with dutch apple pie and pumpkin pie while watching "Home Alone", a long-time tradition in the Johnston home, that has continued into our home now! It was a neat experience to begin having our own family traditions with our kids.

Breck and the football... he's being a bit of a bad sport here!

The table with the breads and cracker platter during the day.

Breck and all of that food!

Sienna the Pumpkin and Breck the Pilgrim!

The 4 of us... about to eat!

Josten carving his first turkey.

That Holiday Kick-off movie!!! Classic.

Finally Finished!

I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but I kept forgetting. I finally finished a project I had been working on for months, the shaggy raggy rug for Breck's room. Some of you saw my post about the one I made for Shawnte', and asked me how I did it, so I put the directions on my Project Blog. Well, not only is the rug finally finished, but that also means that Breck's room is FINALLY finished! It's been pretty much done most of the time we've been here, but the rug was the last thing I had to do. So here are some pictures of the finished product:

This is the rug

This is what the sign above the picture of Jesus says.

I painted those pictures to match the bedding, and I put the images in the middle. You can't really see them, but the left one is a pacifier, the middle is baby shoes, and the right is a stroller.

Aren't Sundays Great?

Today is Sunday, and we were just thinking about how wonderful an occasion it is. We have awhole day together (most weekends) in which we can do anything we want, and not have to worry about working, going to school, ROTC (again, most weekends), cleaning, spending money, etc. We can get spiritual uplifting from church, carry that same spirit with us throughout the day, see the kids all dressed up, just lay around the house, work scrapbooking and other projects of that sort, journaling, and spend quality time with our family and friends. It seems like a lot of sundays used to be spent at little get-togethers with friends from the ward, eating food, playing games, and visiting, but it seems like lately we haven't been able to do that as much since we have 2 kids now, and also because Josten is gone with the ARMY some weekends. Today we had a great sunday and decided to have friends over. Josten and Breck made cinnamon rolls, and we chatted, and later we played card games! Sienna had her friend Kardynn there, who was born just after her. We stood them together and they were so amazed at eachother! Breck had his girlfriend Payton there too! They loved going crazy and playing together! What a fun time and a great Sunday!

We thought the kids looked so cute today!

They are so amazed at eachother!

Special Visitors!

This weekend we had the opportunity to have Josten's sister Shawnte' and her husband Cameron over for a couple days. It was nice to hang out and spend time with them. It feels like we don't ever see family members anymore except for big special occasions. Breck had an absolute blast with Koda, their dog. He would squeal in delight whenever he saw him, but I felt really bad for Koda, who probably got pretty annoyed by a little boy tugging and pulling at him all weekend! Saturday night we went out to La Casa Lopez in downtown Moscow. The food was great. Shawnte' and I played speed Scrabble while we waited for our dinner. I won't tell you who won...;). We came back, had ice cream, then they had to be on their way. Thanks for coming to visit us Uncle Cameron and Aunt Shawnte'!

Daddy's Cinnamon Rolls

For those of you that don't know, Josten makes the best cinnamon rolls! His mother spared no efforts in teaching him how to cook, and luckily, we get to benefit from the fruits of her labors! Daddy decided to give us a treat today and make his special rolls for us, and enlisted the help of Breck, who was more than willing to get his hands into all that messy stuff! They turned out delicious as usual, with a little bit of an extra goodness, knowing that Brecky helped out too!

Keep On Rollin'

Our little Sienna is now officially somewhat mobile! I had her sleeping next to me in the bed this morning after Josten left to Physical Training. She was about a foot and a half away from me, and we both fell asleep. Suddenly, I woke up to her face smashed up against mine! She learned how to roll over in her sleep! Well, then I laid her down for her nap on our bed, and I left her right in the middle, knowing she has the new skill of transportation. When she woke up, she was perpendicular to the postion I left her in, and on the complete right side of the bed! I don't have any before/after pictures yet, or any videos, but I will post if I get one. For now, here's a cute picture Josten took tonight:

A Petrified Josten, and Thanksgiving

Josten got a phone call from one of the Sargeants this morning. He sounded very short and possibly a little angry. He told him to meet him at the ROTC offices today at 3:00. This is odd because Josten only has ROTC and ROTC related things on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today being Tuesday, and the tone of the sargeant's voice, all in all concerned Josten. He worried all day, a pit forming bigger and bigger in his stomach until the dreaded moment came. All he could think was, "What could I have done wrong?", "Are they going to kick me out of ROTC?", or "Did someone say something untrue about me?". 3:00 rolled around, and Josten entered the ROTC offices. Josten in a repentant tone asks the Sargeant, "Is there anything wrong?" The Sargeant replies sharply with "You just sit down, and I'll tell you what's up, Cornett!" Then, the Colonel called Josten back to his office. He looks and Josten, then looks down, as if angered, disappointed, or both. He tells him to sit down, and that he had some things he wanted to go over with him. Just as Josten is feeling about 1 inch tall, the sargeant comes in with a huge box. He tells Josten to open it. As Josten opened it, the sternness on everyones' faces faded, and were quickly replaced with smiles. In the box Josten found everything needed for a huge Thanksgiving dinner. They also gave us a 30 gift card to Winco for perishables. They pick someone in ROTC every year to buy a big Thanksgiving dinner for, and this year they chose Josten. We feel so lucky, and so touched by their kindness and generosity. They are such great people and are so happy that we have been able to be associated with them.

Busy Busy Busy Week!!!!

This week has just FLOWN by! It's amazing how quickly time goes when you've got a lot to do. This last weekend we (Sarah and Kids) went up to Coeur d'Alene. Before we left, we got to spend some time with Anilyn, our old neighbors' baby, who turned one year old! We went to McDonalds, got Happy Meals for the Kids, and went to the indoor park by our place and let the kids loose! Brittney and I had fun watching them play together! Later, we went up to Coeur d'Alene and had dinner with my family. Breck wore out Grandpa J. and Sienna charmed them all! Saturday morning Chaylia and I were able to go out to breakfast with Sienna, while Grandma and Grandpa J. watched Breck. It was so nice to be able to have some time with her, whenever we see eachother, it has always felt like we were so rushed. Chaylia and I then ran some errands for later that day when we would go to a baby shower for Shawnte's little baby boy. It was nice to see so many familiar faces, both of family and friends. Grandma Katrina and GrandAunt Cindy were also able to make it! Shasta did a great job putting it together... she should professionally plan parties! Everyone had a great time, and Shawnte' got a lot of really nice and helpful things. We went back to Moscow that night, and on Sunday we celebrated Anilyn's birthday at her party! Breck had a blast with all the kids and he hit a milestone in his life. He recieved his first kiss! He and Payton Dalling shared a sweet moment of romance that was witnessed by all. I wish I could have captured it at the right moment, but I took the picture too late. So finally, here we are, finally settled down and relaxing for the first time in awhile. It was a great weekend, but we're happy to be at home again!

Breck and Anilyn's day at the indoor park.

The beautiful hostess Shasta!

Chaylia, Me, and Mary

Sienna and Grandma Katrina

My little Beauty!

Shawnte' opening the rug I made her! She's getting closer to baby time!

Analyn's party: Pin the tail on the Zebra.

Just after Breck's first kiss. Breck realized everyone was watching, and got embarrassed!

'Tis the Season...

... For Super Saturday!!!! One of my favorite Relief Society activities! This last Saturday we had ours for our ward. There were a number of things to make, but I chose 2 projects. One of them is below, these cute little autumn/winter blocks, and a NOEL sign. Josten was so gracious to offer to watch both the kids while I went. It was so nice to be able to sit with good friends and chat, and do one of my favorite things... crafts!

This is one side...

...turn it around and here's the other!




This is me working on my projects.


The NOEL sign

Two of my friends, Sandi and Lindsay

Two more of my friends: Nicole and Alyssa

Halloween

Happy Halloween to all! We hope you all had a great time! We sure did! We had planned to take the kids trick-or-treating here in Moscow, but it was raining outside, so we opted to just stick with our ward's trunk-or-treat. What our ward did, is they had people decorate doors inside the church where all the little kids could safely go trick or treating. This also worked out nice, because it gives the kids, and their parents, a nice break from the cold (and wet) weather! They also had pumpkin painting, good food, and of course, good friends! The kids looked so cute! Sarah made Breck a Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Carribean) costume, and she made Sienna a Lady Bug costume! They looked so cute! Breck even had random people coming up to him and taking pictures! Sarah dressed up in an old-fashioned dress, content to just be an 1800's woman. Evidently a certain little girl thought Sarah was Cinderella, and had her mom come over to her to introduce her to Cinderella. The little girl was star struck and just gave a shy smile, and skipped happily away! Breck got some good candy, but it wouldn't be right to say that he really enjoyed the trick-or-treating. We think that he was just weirded out by the whole experience. Plus, he hated his wig, and it kept getting in his face. We sure had fun seeing him trick-or-treat though!

This is Sienna during the day. Our Li'l Pumpkin!

Captain Jack Sparrow! ARRRRRGH!

Our Sienna Bug is a Lady Bug!!!

Those sweet little kids together. Breck is really confused here as to what is going on.

Mommy and daughter, all dressed up!

This is all of us at the Trunk or Treat. Although you can't see Josten's costume...

...This is what the sign around his neck says...

...and this is the name tag he wore!

The End of the Harvest

Well, for all of you who have been anxious to hear how the garden turned out, the story ends in a sad way. After beginning to see some fruits of my labors, and starting to gather in the good stuff, I failed to realize that the cold weather was quickly setting in, and thus creating frost. Since I am pretty new to this gardening business, I didn't even think about covering up all the plants. So we lost all of our zuchinni, squash, and those cute little pumkins that were starting to grow. So sad. However, our onions, carrotts, and potatoes were still good, and I was pleasently surprised to see that the broccoli I had given up on started to grow! I gathered in some of the carrots, and all of the potatoes, and had some nice dinners with them. The other day I went up to check on the rest of the carrots, and to my dismay, somebody had dug them all up, and broke most of them, and scattered them all over the garden!!! I was very sad, I wish that if somebody else really needed those, they would have at least used them! Well, I did find one more carrot, and what an interesting little guy he was! Hopefully next year I will be able to apply what I have learned and really have a successful harvest! I was very grateful for the experience none-the-less!

Here it is: The last of my harvest for 2008!

Little Getaway

Well we just had a blast last weekend! It was one of those special weekends where Josten was actually home! We decided we needed to have some time together, since it feels like we never really see eachother anymore. We went up to Coeur d'Alene, and dropped the kids off at my parents' house, while we went out to dinner at Dockside. It really was so nice, we both had steak, and enjoyed the view of the lake (although it was a dark view). After dinner, we picked up Sienna, since she's still pretty little, and we stayed the night at the New Holiday Inn Express near downtown Coeur d'Alene. It was super nice, and we were lucky to get a really nice room, because Josten gets a military discount there! Sienna slept the WHOLE time, except for just before we left, so it really did feel like a getaway for just the two of us. We went swimming, and took a dip in the hottub, and enjoyed the awesome breakfast they had the next morning. It really was so nice to have time together to remember what started it all... our love for one another. It was short, but will be a special memory of ours. The next evening, we went to Josten's mom's house to celebrate Shawnte's birthday! We were able to see a lot of family, which was very nice as well. Breck had a blast with his cousins, and Kaelynn and I had a fun little tea party. She kept handing me the "tea" saying "Try it, Sawah!" She's is so stinkin' cute! We left that night, and came back home to Moscow refreshed, and revived!

This is the only picture we got from our getaway, we're coming back to the hotel here.

Me and Kaelynn playing tea party, and Breck wanting in on the fun.

Little Sienna was so good, and slept a lot both days!

Shawnte' got a lot of neat gifts, including some dining decor as pictured.

Cameron made this awesome cake for her! So wonderful!

Picture Tag

Okay, so I know I do tags a lot, but I was tagged again, and I think that this one is really cute. What you do, is you go to the 4th file folder in your pictures on your computer, and you choose the 4th picture in that file. Then tell about it! Here is mine:


I have to say I was actually quite surprised that this is the one it ended up being. I was expecting something from a long time ago. Anyway, this is when Sienna was born, literally minutes after her arrival. She hadn't even been cleaned off yet! Oh I just love that little girl! Okay, I tag Suzi, Brittany D., Brittney C., Ben and Michelle, and Jenny S.

Miscellanious Activities

This week had a lot of miscellanious activities that kept us busy. Josten was in charge of running 2 Physical Trainging sessions, he had Land Navigation Thursday night, and on top of all of that, he's been training for the "Ranger's Challenge", a very competitive ROTC challenge for top ROTC squads nationwide. His training includes running 5 to 10 miles in full uniform with full equipment on him, and other strenuous activities. He's been doing all this on top of studying for 3 tests he had this last week! Tuesday we went as a family to Lewiston, just to get out and look around at things. We had a blast spending time together. Friday we had an ice cream social with our ward which was a blast! Our ward is so fun! On Saturday we went up to Kamiak Butte and spent the day there. It was really nice. Breck loved being able to play wherever he wanted, and we enjoyed having our first weekend in a really long time together as a family. Sienna didn't have the best time out there. Maybe she's just not the outdoorsy type. So that's what we've been up to here in the Cornett household. Just sort of going with the flow for now!

These first three pictures are in Lewiston

These next three are at Kamiak Butte. We had some cute videos of breck playing on the playrground that we wanted to post, but the computer was glitching on us, and it didn't work out. for those family members who really want to see them, just e-mail me and i'll send them through e-mail.

Here's some random pictures of our cute little kids!

Sienna is now big enough for her Jumperoo! she loves it!

Pride and Prejudice Tea Party

It's an annual tradition of Nana's (Mama C.) to get together with the girls and have a Pride and Prejudice themed tea party. This year it was just the girls in the family; Nana, Shasta, Shawnte', and Sarah. Kaelynn and Sienna also graced us with their presence. We missed Chaylia, who wasn't able to make it, but she'll be there next year:o)! We had a great time. Nana made a lot of excellent food! It was so sophisticated and fancy! For breakfast we had a yummy breakfast quiche, with fresh fruit, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Before breakfast we had these homade tea cookies that had lemon and lavendar in them. For lunch we had a beautiful salad with homade candied walnuts on it, and mini steaks. We also had raspberry lemonade with reall raspberries. For Tea we had almond tea, mint tea, and peach tea, with yummy cookies and finally to top it off, we had homemade lavendar lemon ice cream! We watched Pride and Prejudice in between meals, the full 6-hour version of it! We also spent the whole day in period-costumes. We all dressed up in what they would have worn in the Pride and Prejudice era. We really had such a great time conversing as girls, and just spending time with one another. Thanks again Nana!

This is the wonderful breakfast we had. Yummy!

Kaelynn, Shawnte', Shasta, Sienna, and Sarah.

The four women in our period costumes.

Kaelynn as usual being so sweet to one of her little cousins. The whole day she kept going up to Sienna saying "She's so cute!" in her sweet little voice!

Sienna was so excited to be around all the girls!

Latah County Fair

This last week was the famous Latah County Fair. We had the opportunity to go as a family on thursday. It was both of our kids' first time being at a fair, so it was exciting seeing them react to different things. Although Sienna doesn't register much, she still seemed to enjoy being out and about. Breck LOVED all of the animals! He saw sheep, cows, pigs, pigletts, ducklings, chicks (little chicken, not girls), bunnies, and gerbils. I think his favorites were the ducklings, and the horse. He threw a fit when we tried to move on from the horse. I was also able to ride with him on the carousel. That was fun, excfept towards the end, Breck wanted off badly. We ate yummy fair food, and topped the night off with music and elephant ears! It was a blast! Both of the kids were exhausted afterwards!

Our first stop was the horse. Breck was so thrilled.

Next, we saw the cattle and livestock. Breck was very interested. We saw cows, sheep, and pigs.

We then ate yummy fair food. Sarah and Breck had burgers, and Josten had a special BBQ pork sandwich. We also had homemade potato chips, and kettle corn.

After that, Breck and Mommy went on the carousel!

Then we looked at all the sweet little bunnies, ducklings and chicks. We finished the night off with a yummy elephant ear, then walked home.

The Harvest

I love the Fall. It is absolutely me favorite season. There are so many exciting things going on; a new semester of school, friends coming back to Moscow from the summer break, Nice weather that is cool, yet warm enough to wear a t-shirt, the beautiful colors, the smell, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course, the harvest. This year we decided to try our luck with gardening. We planted a garden with our former neighbors, the Crofts, and needless to say, it probably wasn't the best year for either of our families. There was so much going on, I had a baby, I was up in Coeur d'Alene while Josten was at LTC, the Crofts went out of town for awhile two times, and we both had babies, that made it hard to find time to get up there. The garden turned into a weed fest, and missed A LOT of waterings. But regardless of our neglect, we managed to get some growth, and reap some fruits of our occasional labors. Some things came in really tiny because of lack of water, others grew nicely anyway. I have started watering and weeding (trying) more regularly so that we can have more growth. It seems to be working, and I just love being up there. I find gardening very relaxing and rewarding when I have the time! I also enjoy picking the wild flowers in the back as well on my way back inside. I am very thankful for the great blessings of the harvest, and that even when I lack in my persistence to take care of the garden, I am still able to see the miracle of Heavenly Father's creations, and how he blesses our lives through them. So here are some pictures of what I hae gotten a couple of times from the garden:

These were my first Pickin's. At the bottom is a baby pumpkin. It didn't grow very large because of the lack of water!

Here we have squash, zuchinni, green onions, carrots that I didn't dig quite deep enough to get out all the way, and some wild flowers that grow out back.

Blessing Sienna

We just had such a great weekend! We had a lot of the family come down for Sienna's Baby Blessing! It was simply wonderful, that's all I can say. It was so nice to see family, and to just relax and catch up with them all. Josten gave a beautiful blessing, with some neat promises. Sienna looked gorgeuos in her dress and shoes that Grandma Johnston bought her, and her beautiful bonnet that Nana made for her! The whole group was able to stay through Sunday School, and watch Sarah teach, so that was great as well! We had such a fun time, and are so excited to have another big family event!

Beautiful Sienna on her special day

Left to Right: Grandma Johnston, Daddy, Mommy, Sienna, Grandpa Johnston, Breck, Aunt Chay Chay, Makenna, Uncle Jayden, Uncle Javis, TaPa, Kaelynn, Uncle Owen, Papa and Grandma Cornett, Aunt Shawnte' and Uncle Cameron. Behind Camera(s): Nana, Aunt Shasta, and Aunt Mary.

Grandpa Johnston, Breck, Aunt Mary, Mommy, Sienna, and Daddy

Papa and Grandma Cornett were able to come down the night before, as well as Nana and TaPa to spend time with us!

Thank you Grandma C. For letting me eat your plate of food!!!

Breck and Kaelynn... We LOVE this picture!

Three Years, and Two Babies Later

On Wednesday, We celebrated our anniversary! 3 whole years!!!! Wow! We had a great time together, although Josten had to go to school during the day, since it was during the week this year. Our spectacular former neighbors the Crofts took over the kids for the evening, and Josten and I were able to have some one on one time out to dinner for the first time in over a year! We went to restaurant called Sangria Grill which has excellent South American sort of food. It was really good and REALLY spicey!

Here are some of our favorite moments from the last 3 years:

Our wedding day, of course. After we were sealed in the Spokane Washington Temple, we went over to the Post Falls chapel parking lot to just talk about the wonderful experience we had just had. Truley a special moment for us. We also actually really enjoyed our wedding reception and dance party, the limo ride to the Bed and Breakfast, and the Bed and Breakfast.

Our Honeymoon: Driving around the island in a moped, dancing and falling on the dance floor of a fancy restaurant, our hotel room the last night being the size of a large rug, going through the Seattle temple on our way there, and Josten speaking in toungues in his sleep. "One goes North, one goes south, one goes North and South!" *Inside joke*

Coming home from work every night to eachother and just talking until 2 or 3 in the morning.

Ignoring the whole world for 6 months, just content to spend everyday and night together alone.

Waiting until the last minute every morning to leave for work, and often showing up late because of the 2 am chats.

Buying our first car together.

Finding out we were pregnant with Breck. The struggle to become pregnant, followed by the blessing of an answered prayer. We called everyone immedietly, we couldn't hold it inside! (July 22nd, 2006)

Having Bar-B-Que's almost every week in the summer time.

California trip: being pregnant and stuck in traffic on a six lane highway desperately needing a bathroom, going through the L.A. Temple, and Sarah passing out from pregnancy induced dehydration, The family reunion with the Johnston Clan, Stopping in Las Vegas.

Celebrating our first anniversary, eating the top of our wedding cake (not too bad!), and realizing we spent WAY too much on dinner!

Christmas at the Lodge with the whole Cornett Clan! We all drew names and made gifts for eachother. What a great, relaxing time!

Breck's birth. (March 12th, 2007) Such an amazing feeling of overwhelming love between all 3 of us.

Moving to Moscow. We can't even start to talk about all the things that we love about Moscow. We have been blessed so greatly with wonderful friends, neighbors, and a loving bishopric. Our ward and callings have been so wonderful and strengthening. We have learned how to live "The Student Life" by budgeting, budgeting, budgeting! School has been great, and Josten has done well.

Our 2nd anniversary at Palouse Falls.

Finding out we were pregnant with Sienna. (November 6, 2007) Once again, so excited to tell everyone!

Josten joining the Army. One of the causes of so many blessings in our family's life. Josten also loves all of his LTC memories, friends and experiences.

The birth of Sienna (July 4th, 2008). Josten just barely made it home in time! Sarah didn't mind only being in labor for 2 hours too. Feeling her sweet spirit, and seeing Breck interact with her.

Our 3rd Annviersary! Although we adore our children, having sweet and special moments between eachother.

Coeur d'Alene Trip, and Labor Day

Last weekend we went up to Coeur d'Alene before school starts to visit family. Kevin, Mary's husband left to boot camp last week, and so we had one last family dinner with them, since they will be moving down to California once he is done. We came up Friday, and Sarah went to one of her longtime friends Suzi's baby shower. It was good to see her again, and to see other people that we haven't seen in awjile. Immedietly after, we went to Sarah's friend Juli's wedding reception. Juli was such a beautiful bride! We knew her husband's brother's family from Post Falls, and it was awesome being able to see them again. They are one of those families that you just hope that you end up like someday! Saturday, we spent the day with Nana C. and that was so nice to be able to lounge around, and enjoy the last little bit of summer! Breck had fun playing around outside! Oh, the joys of a fenced yard! Saturday night we headed over to Sarah's parents' house, and we went to stake conference with Sarah's mom on Sunday. We enjoyed all the messages that were shared. Sunday evening, we had the last family dinner with Kevin and Mary before they left. That was a little sad, but a good adventure for their family. After that, we stopped by Javis and Chaylia's for a little bit before heading back down to Moscow. It was a short trip, but it seemed like we were able to see a lot of people, and spend some quality time with them. It for sure a successful trip.
So this last weekend, we weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves for the long weekend. Josten had a rafting trip for ROTC on Saturday, so we couldn't really go out of town or anything. So we got together with our friends the Dallings and we went back up to Spring Valley Resevoir and had a "camping" evening, and spent time with eachother, and had a little Family Home Evening. That was a lot of fun. It's really fun seeing our kids to play together. Let me tell you, they have a daughter named Payton, and Breck is IN LOVE with her. At least, we tryto pretend he is so that we can justify forcing them to marry eachother. But all joking aside, these two play SO well together. Everytime they are in the same place, they gravitate to one another, and keep eachother entertained for hours! Even after a summer of never seeing eachother, they picked right up where they left off, and became the best of friends again! Breck's going to be so heart-broken next year when they leave! (So will we!!!)

Breck and Payton Cornett... it has a ring to it, don't you think?

Sarah and Brooke Dalling at Spring Valley

Sarah and Suzi Hammond at Suzi's baby shower

Nana and Breckers

Genetian Violet

As a tribute to the story I am about to tell, I am going to post this in purple. I never thought a color could alter our evening in anyway, change the way I feel about our house, or even make me want to pull my hair out. Last night, we were enjoying a quiet evening at home. Josten was working on a painting he had been working on for a few years off and on, and I was in the living room organizing photos. Sienna was sleeping in our room, and Breck was just playing around downstairs. As I was organizing, I heard Breck creep upstairs, which is what he does quite a bit. A few minutes later, I decided to go up, just to make sure he wasn't bothering Sienna. I saw him in his room, which is fine because he usually just plays with his toys up there. So I let him be. I went back downstairs, and continued my work. A few minutes later I started to get this bad feeling, and that I needed to go up stairs. I shook it off and continued working. Bad Feeling came back again. This time I decided to go upstairs to check. I went upstairs quickly to see Breck in the hallway smiling from ear to ear. In his hand, a bottle of Genetian Violet; a dark purple, ink-like antiseptic that could probably be used as clothing dye, if you didn't want to buy dye. We used it when Breck was about a month old for Thrush, which worked wonders. Cleared it right up, but his mouth stayed purple for days. Yes, I said days. I think that Breck was grateful for what this stuff did for him, that he just wanted to decorate with it. There was a puddle immedietly under the bottle on the carpet. There was a puddle in his room, there were 3 puddles in our room. There were feet prints from him walking in the puddle in his room, through the hall, and into our room. It was on our bed spread, a pillow sham, Sienna's blanket. There were squirts and splatters on the wall and trim. I froze in place. I was temporarily incapacitated. All I could do was say in my head over and over "This isn't going to come out, this isn't going to come out!" To give you a point of view on this, it would have been better that he had taken a permanent marker, and drawn all over the carpet. I immedietly stuck Breck in a bath and scrubbed him. I had to drain the water twice because it was getting so dark that it was dying his skin. Josten, who could barely breath went to rent a steam-cleaner. After we steam cleaned it, we realized our carpet was purple for good. It didn't even lighten up one shade. Today, Josten decided to put bleach in the steam cleaner. We figured that the carpet was already ruined, so even if it toally bleached the carpet, that was at least a nuetral color. He did that, and when I came up, the purple was completely gone, and the carpet hadn't even lightened fom the bleach! Halelujah! We applied the bleach to our walls and bathtub which then came off as well. Our bed spread still has the purple on it, but we were planning on getting a new one soon anyway. So the moral of the story is, use Genetian violet for thrush on little babies... then put it very, very high up!

This is Breck AFTER we soaked and scrubbed him in the bath.

This is the hallway where I first found Breck.

This is the hallway into Breck's room.

This is Breck's room. You can see the initial spill.

This is our room.

Visit from Family

We had such an eventful weekend! We were blessed to be able to have the company of Grandma and Grandpa Cornett, and Uncle Javis and Auntie Chay Chay. It was really nice to be able to just sit and visit, we haven't really gotten a chance to do that for awhile. They all cam up Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa left Sunday after dinner, and Uncle Javis and Auntie Chay stayed until Monday evening. The kids loved being around family, they sure do love them! Thanks for coming you guys, we love you so much!

Javis and Chaylia spoiled me ROTTEN with this beautiful Maya wrap! Sienna LOVES it, and falls asleep almost instantly!

Josten Swearing In

Today Josten swore in to the Army ROTC. He had already sworn in to the National Guard, but now that school is starting in a couple of weeks, he had to swear in to the ROTC. So it's all now official! His officer training begins now! Josten had to give a little speech afterward, and I thought about what he said, and I thought about how grateful I am for the Army in our lives. I think that all the people he will be working under are so great, and they really treat us like part of a family. They look out for one another, and are just such genuine and nice people. I'm also really grateful for the opportunity it brings us. It gives Josten the opportunity to do something he has always wanted to do, while sustaining us, especially through school. I'm just so excited to see where this will take us in life, and what adventures are to come from it!

Camping at Spring Valley Res

This weekend we decided to get away, (15 miles, at least) and take a short little camping trip to Spring Valley Resevior. It was tons of fun, and the first time we got to use our new tent! We ate foil dinners with the kids, or kid, Sienna ate her usual milk, we sang songs around the fire, and told stories. The kids did so great, and it was all in all such a blast! We are looking forward to more camping trips, hopefully longer, and to next summer when we can go all summer!

















Josten and I joked that this is the first dwelling we've ever bought!

















Me and the kids enjoying the fire

















Josten putting up the tent. And Breck getting filthy.

















Sienna's ruffle bum

Our Kids Don't Stand a Chance

Sienna Bug is 1 month old!

Yesterday Sienna turned one month old! We can't believe how quick that time went. It literally feels like we just had her last week! She's already changed so much, it's hard to believe! She holds her head up pretty well now, she smiles more, which could mean that she just has more gas, but at least we see it more, she weighs a whopping 10 pounds, 3 ounces, and this is the best part... She SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT NOW!!! YAY!!! She is so precious, and grows more and more beautiful with each passing day! We are so grateful to have her as our daughter, and Breck is equally thankful to have someone to play with, even if she can't do much just yet! We love you little Sienna, happy one month!

Happy Birthday Josten!!!

Yesterday Josten turned 26 years old! WOW! We had a fun day together, just the family. I had wanted to plan something bigger, but Josten told me he preferred to have a smaller party with just us. We ended up having a blast. After Josten got home from work, we went to the theater for the very first time since before Breck was born to see the movie "Wall-E". It was really cute, and the kids did so well! Well, Sienna just slept through it, but Breck sat still through the first half, with eyes glued to the screen, then he fell asleep, then woke up to glue his eyes once again to the screen. After the movie we got some dinner, and then we went home for cake and ice cream. I made the party a "Superman" theme, which is Josten's favorite super hero. I made him a superman cake, and we drank kryptonite (lime kool-aid, just in case you were worried). Sienna decked herself out in an "I heart Dad" shirt that I made for Josten for his 24th birthday, which was 1 week after we found out I was pregnant with Breck. Who'da thought just 2 years later, his 2nd child would be wearing it! We ended the day by watching a movie in bed on Josten's lap-top. It was all in all a fun, relaxing day, and we are so grateful for our "Superdad" and all he does and sacrifices for our family! We love you Jossy!

Javis and Chaylia Cornett

This last weekend, we loaded up the family to go up to Coeur d'Alene for Javis and Chaylia's wedding! It was such a great time, though the trip was a lot different having two little kiddos this time! It was so great witnessing the two of them make that commitment to eachother, and the reception was such a blast! We danced to our hearts' content, (which was also a bit different holding two kids!). We are so happy to have Chaylia in our family, and all of Chaylia's family members as well. The two lovebrids are now off to a fun-filled week at a resort near San Diego! Congratulations you two! We love you! (More pictures to follow)

This Tagging Thing.

These are the answer of Josten, scroll down a few posts to read Sarah's.

Attached or Single? Completing the third year of an Eternal Marriage this September… you do the math.

Best Friend? Sarah, Breck and Sienna, my brothers and sisters and their spouses and children (Jeremy and Amy -- in case you forgot that it was a given that you were included in that, you ARE), all my parents, the whole Johnston/Pearce/Smidt Family (Sarah‘s family), the Guyett Family, the Croft Family, the Stevens Family, the Cranford Family (Smelijah -- that’s you), and
a lot of other good people.
*Disclaimer: This is not a complete best friends list, and Josten C. Cornett takes no responsibility for hurt feelings by those individuals not included or included on the said list. The opinions in the list and this overall posting, by Mr. Cornett, are that solely of Mr. Cornett and not that of Meet the Cornetts(c) blog page or the Cornett Family. He makes his own whacked-out statements against the advice of his wife and the whole Meet the Cornetts(c) Board.

Cake or Pie? Apple Pie -- its American.

Day of Choice? Sunday -- it is literally the only day of rest from the stresses of every other day.

Essential Items? Boots, dry socks, water, and a rifle.

Favorite Color? Black -- Yes it is a color. Clearly you can distinguish black and white from other colors! Even label them… you know black, white… so it is a color, and me thinks it's a rad-i-cool color at that. Its stealth. Blue is a close second.

Gummy Bears or Worms? Why are they my only options? As if there is no other forms of gummies, let only candy, in this world. You know… that is exactly what is wrong with the world today; they would have you believe that there is only two options (i.e. Democrats and Republican, Soup or Salad) what about the Independents, or the Green Party, or the Libertarian Party, or the Constitution Party, or Communist Party (wait I already mentioned them), or the Boston Tea Party, or the Birthday Party; what about those of us who just want some freaking wings or cheese stick. Stop giving us two options! I like SNICKERS and REESES’ NUTRAGEOUS -- that’s right chocolate candy bars! But if I had to pick between bears or worms, I guess it would be worms.

Home Town? Post Falls, ID

Indulgences? Steak.

January or July? January; does that answer your question, Sarah?

Kids? Breck, 16 months, Sienna, 2 weeks.

Like or Love? Depends on who it is, and maybe those wont be my only two options either.

Marriage Date? September 3rd, 2005

Number of Siblings? See Shasta’s answer on the Baisden Buzz -- she figured it out.

Phobias/fears? Heights and family getting hurt.

Quotes? “Nobody likes a cry-baby.” -- Josten C. Cornett

Reason to Smile? A beautiful wife and two perfectly adorable kids.

Season? Cayenne Pepper, please.

Tag Six: Cutler and the rest of Warlords’ 4th Squad (do it on your face books or something).

Unknown fact about me? I have a mole on the palm side of my right index finger; between the two joints in the middle section.

Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? Holy Cow! Am I really being asked this ridiculous question? There‘s your two choices of today again; sponsored by the fascist left (I meant fascist left) and its affiliate PETA. You Newkirkians are the real oppressors! If you totalitarian hypocrites had it your way, I would be thrown into jail for doing what takes place everyday in the natural animal kingdom. Yet you wouldn’t lock a cougar up for taking down a moose, or worse yet, a human child (that would be a human fault). Sorry, but I like to use my K-9 teeth (aka the pointy ones) to tear into meat, not to shred lettuce and spinach.

X-rays or Ultrasounds? Ultrasounds prove life.

Your Favorite Food? Steak, Lobster, tacos.

Zodiac? I loved the training!

Breck loves to take care of his Lil' Sis

Ever since Sienna arrived, Breck has constantly hovered around her. He loves to give her hugs and kisses, or just snuggle her. For the most part he is really gentle with her, though he can get a little too excited and clumsily smother her or do something to upset her. Here is some -- what we thought to be -- really cute pictures and a video of Breck’s softer moments with Sienna (under close supervision).

We Finally Caught the Tag Bug

So we finally got tagged, and we got this tag from THREE people! Thanks Jeremy, Shasta,
and Danielle! (Josten's answers to follow soon)


Attached or Single? Attached, very much so.

Best Friend? Josten is my number one, but Breck and Sienna are a very, very close number two.

Cake or Pie? Cake, I love birthdays for this reason

Day of Choice? Saturday

Essential Items? Diapers, wipes, snacks for Breck, wallet, keys

Favorite Color? Green

Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms, I like the ones that have red on them... but I really like Gummy Bears too, in fact, anything gummy!

Home Town? I was raised mostly in Hayden, ID, but mine and Josten's hometown would be Post Falls, though we are living in Moscow, ID

Indulgences? Long showers once Josten gets home from work.

January or July? July, has anyone really said January???

Kids? Breck, 16 months, Sienna, 2 weeks

Like or Love? Love is definitely what I prefer, if that's what this question is asking

Marriage Date? September 3rd, 2005

Number of Siblings? 1 sister, Mary.

Phobias/fears? Spiders, heights, my kids getting hurt

Quotes? Proverbs 3:5+6

Reason to Smile? My family, our extended families, we're getting some more school done!

Season? Spring or Fall, perfect weather, lots of excitement in each.

Tag Six... Alyssa, Brittney C., Laura, Brittany D., and whoever else is interested who hasn't done it yet.

Unknown fact about me? I really enjoyed getting my wisdom teeth taken out.

Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? I'll be honest, I really love meat, especially steak.

X-rays or Ultrasounds? Oh I think ultrasounds are so much fun!

Your Favorite Food? I don't think I could name one, but Lobster, steak, and baked potatoes would be among the few

Zodiac? Taurus

More Pictures, and an Update

So life is pretty active and busy in the Cornett household now! Sienna has been home now for 6 days, and is doing so well! She eats SO well, and is gaining weight well! She sleeps pretty well at night, and is actually awake for some big spurts during the day, just content to look around and take everything in. Breck LOVES his new little sister. He is constantly trying to go up to her and hold her, pet her, and he loves saying a long, drawn-out "Hi!" to her. Mom's been feeling really well, healing perfectly, and regaining her energy. We both love being parents of two beautiful children, and right now we feel like life is just too good to be true!

Kisses for Sienna

Graham Crackers for Sienna

The hospital gave us a candel light steak dinner! Yum!

Bringing my babies home

Below are some of the pictures that the Hospital took for her first "photo shoot"

She's Here! Our Little Lady Liberty!

Sienna Eve Cornett finally graced us with her presence last night, the fourth of July, at 7:17 p.m.! Labor was a whopping 2 hours long for Mom, with 10 whole minutes of pushing! Sarah felt the first signs of labor at 5:00 p.m. then knew it was time to get to the hospital by 5:20. They checked her dilation when she got there, and she was already at 7 cm. She went through transition about a half hour later, and started pushing just after 7. She came out easy (relativiely speaking) and gave us a little cry, then snuggled up to Mommy and clalmed down. She is so beautiful, and Daddy was glad to be able to make it home less than 48 hours before her arrival! She is very calm, and so far eats really well! She weighed 7 pounds, 15 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. She has TONS of dark hair that shows signs of lightning up at some point like Brecks. Speaking of Breck, he is very curious about his new little sister, and likes sitting on Daddy's lap with Sienna while he tickles her forhead! We are so blessed, and couldn't ask for two more perfect children. Here are some pictures, there will be more to come I'm sure! (to see her "stork report" picture, go to www.gritman.org, and click on "Stork Report" on the top menu.)

Mommy Went into labor so quick that she didn't even have time to change into a gown!

Any Day Now...

I had my weekly check-up on Monday, in which the doctor checked me for dilation and all. She informed me that I am 4 cm. dilated, and 100% effaced!!! Yikes!!! At the time she said that she doubted if Josten would make it home in time for the baby to came, but here I am, still NO labor pains whatsoever, and Josten is coming home in 5 hours! So it looks like he will make it, and I am grateful that he was able to come home a day early to ensure his presence at the birth of Sienna! Meanwhile I am on doctors' orders to keeps my legs crossed and to not sneeze! We will keep you updated on what happens, I may even be this dilated for awhile like I was with Breck. We'll see!

Well here we are in Coeur d’Alene for the last two weeks of Josten being away. We made it up here safely (not such a long trip) and it feels nice to have family around. Saturday I had my baby shower, which although a lot of people couldn’t make it, it was a blast anyway. I got a lot of really really nice things, and if it weren’t for Josten being gone still, I would feel like I was ready to have the baby now! Here are some pictures from the shower and some pictures of my visit so far! Thank you to everyone who made the shower special, and to all who have been so kind and generous!

Grandpa J. took Breck out to play for the afternoon, to get him away from the shower. He had a blast at the park!!!

LTC Week 2

Here is a little update on our Super soldier! Josten is having a blast at LTC! He says it is very challenging, but very fun. He wakes up every morning at 3:45, and is at Physical Training by 4:00. He says he has very little time to eat, and the food is not that good. They've done several outdoor navigational activities, one fo which was in the middle of the night all night long, and then they had to do another full day of work the next day! He enjoys the activities, amd he loves shooting the guns, which he did today. Everything is such a challenge, but if you know Josten, any physical challenge is the funnest thing for him to do! He was even recently assigned to be the Company commander over everyone in his LTC draft. There's over 200 people in his draft that he is in charge of! The best part about LTC, he says, are the friendships he's made. He says that he's gotten to know so many people so well, and he says that they are such exemplary people. He says they are all so intellegent, friendly, fun, dilligent, and dedicated. He appreciates that because it motivates him as well. He is doing so well, which I love to hear about, it makes it much easier for me to hear that he is having a great time. There is a website, if anyone is interested about LTC. You can get a description of the type of things they will be doing, and you can view pictures as well. Josten's group is B 1/46, though I haven't been able to find a definite picture of him yet.

http://www.usaac.army.mil/acce

36 Weeks

So now I am 36 weeks, and only have 4 more weeks left!!! Yikes! Pregnancy is still going well, however I get increasingly sore, and increasingly tired. Some of it I'm sure is due to the fact that I have been a single mom for 2 weeks now (only 2 more weeks left!), but I'm definitely feeling that extra weight! Sienna is now very very active at night, which by the way is very effectively remedied by rocking back and forth laying down. She goes right back to sleep everytime, and then I can go back to sleep too! I had my 36 weeks check-up today (check-ups are now every week) and was told that I was not dilated at all (yay!) but that I was 80% effaced, and very soft, so dilation could happen very soon. We're desperately trying to hold on until Daddy gets home though! Other than that, the pregnancy is going very normal, I'm just so exhausted!!!!

Me and Sienna at 36 Weeks (sorry about the sideways shot, I'm on a different computer, and couldn't fidure out the configuration on it)

Date Night

This last Friday was my first Friday without Josten. We usually do some sort of date, or family date, whether it be going out to dinner, or going on a walk or hike, or just going to the park. Since Josten wasn't here, I just decided to go on a date anyway, just me and Breck! We had a blast! I took Breck to McDonalds to have his first Happy Meal ever! They even gave him juice to drink instead of soda. He loved his little "Kung Fu Panda" toy, and he loved the chocolate milkshake after that even more! Since he was too small to play on the McDonalds playground, I took him to the Eastside Market Place where they have an indoor play yard. He had a blast going up and down the slide, climbing through tunnels, and chasing other little kids around! We stayed there until he got exhausted, and then we went home, where he went right to sleep! We had such a great time!

Lonely Wife, Day One

Today Josten left for Leadership Training Course in Kentucky. He will be there at Fort Knox for a month, and I'm already feeling like it's time that I should go pick him up from the airport. I'm really excited for him, and I know that it will be a great experience for him, and a learning experience for me, but I miss him so much already. He will be getting back July 3rd, which is just about a week and a half before my due date! We're hoping the pregnancy stays close to schedule! We will be able to talk on the phone every once in awhile, but he will be able to write more often, so I will give everyone updates on his adventure as I recieve them. I also made him promise to take pictures, so I will post those as well as I recieve them. Thank you to all of you who have offered much care and support during this time for our family!

Update on the Breckster

Here's a little update on Breck, his new mannerisms, and some cute pictures we've taken. Enjoy!

Breck's new favorite "toy" is any set of real keys. He figured out how to unlock doors, and with our set of keys, he knows which one goes to the car, which one goes to the house and which one goes to the mail box! Like his Fresh Prince style hat?

Although this look isn't new, it's the first time we've had it captured on camera. He's one to let you know when he's ticked.

Breck and his little girlfriend Anilyn. She comes over to play, and he likes that.

Breck literally is "getting into everything" these days!

He LOVES playing outside now! He equally enjoys eating dirt... oh well!

Memorial Day Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend was planned with a fun camping trip with several families from our ward. We were really excited, but the weather forcasts showed that there were thunderstorms in the making. Thinking about the fact that there would be three pregnant women there, and three babies, we decided to cancel. To our surprise, the weather ended up being beautiful anyway, regardless or the forcasts. Instead, we just decided to do a number of camping related activities, which ended up being really fun. On Friday night, we had a bar-b-que with friends, which was so delicious! On Sunday after church, we had a dutch oven dinner at a near-by camping spot. Breck had a blast digging in the dirt and in the creek! Then on Memorial day, we got together with our neighbors, the Crofts, and had a Memorial Day breakfast (I know it's not exactly camping related, but it was still fun!) and later that evening, we went to a camping/recreational sight called Spring Valley Resevior with our friends, the Stevens. It was really beautiful there, and quite refreshing to see a body of water other than a 2' wide creek! We cooked hotdogs over the campfire, and had s'mores. The boys took out a canoe and went fishing for a little bit. Then we just sat around the campfire, and talked about how much we wished we could just stay the night! It definitely got us ready for a summer full of outdoor activities!!!

Breck loved the creek!

So happy to be outside!!!

A game of "Catch the Breck"

The boys fishing

I know I look really distraught here, but I'm really just trying to get my marshmallow perfect!

Our Voyage to California

From the diary of Breck J. Cornett

Dear Diary,

This last week was WILD!!! On Tuesday, Grandpa J. dropped us off at this weird place where some people had to look through our bags, and even the bag that Mommy carries all my stuff in! After they stopped being so snoopy and looking through everything, we entered this big, open room, and Mommy and Daddy let me run around in it until I was tired. Then, I kept hearing these voices coming from up above, but I couldn't tell where they were coming from! Mommy and Daddy seemed to be used to it, and they did what the voices said. The voice I guess told them that they had to get up and go down this long hallway thing, and we ended up in this really big, long car that had wings on both sides of it! But when we started to go, it didn't just stay on the ground, it actually went up into the air!!! When we landed, we were in a place that I guess is called California, and it was a lot hotter that Moscow! Grandma and Grandpa Great were waiting for us there with Great Aunt Diney. We went to this restaurant to eat dinner, then we went to Grandpa and Grandma Great's house. The rest of the week was so weird, but so cool! Grandma and Grandpa Great have this huge blue bathtub thing outside that was sooooo fun! Mommy wouldn't let me explore it myself though, she had to put me in this big yellow inflatable circle if I wanted to go in it. When I wasn't in the big bath, I got to explore outside of Grandma and Grandpa Great's house, it was fun lounging around outside for a change! Great Aunt Diney brought a bunch of toys for me to play with, and she always seemed to like playing with me. She sure was fun. I also got to meet my new cousin Ruby for the first time, when her parent's, Great Aunt Diney's son and wife, brought her over to play with me. Everybody was telling me to be careful because she was only two weeks old. I don't know what that means, but she seemed like she was always really tired, because she was always laying down on somebody. Once she even slept in Mommy's arms, which I was excited about because I hoped Mommy would hold us both at the same time. She ended up waking up though, so I didn't get as close as I had hoped! Everybody was so nice to me, and they always talked to me. Great Grandpa and I played with the tractor he got me for Christmas, and Great Grandma let me watch her cook! It was really fun, but then on Saturday, we had to go back to the weird place where we got on the big car with wings. When we got off, we were in the first weird place, and Grandpa J. was there waiting for us. We went over to Grandpa and Grandma's house for the night, where Grandpa taught me how to take this stick and hit a small white ball with it. It was funny, I couldn't stop laughing! Then, on Sunday, we went back home to Moscow, and slept so well! I really missed my crib, but I had a great time this week!

Love,

Breck

A Tribute to Mothers

I had some thoughts about Mothers' Day and about mothers in general that I wanted to post last week, but since we were out of town, I didn't get a chance to. I was just thinking about how motherhood is such a great job. My mom had an experience years ago that is very surprising and discouraging, but it very well illustrates the way that motherhood is being viewed these days. She had recently had my older sister Mary, and was a full-time, stay at home Mom. She was very excited to be able to do this, and took much pride and joy in this new profession. One day, she ran into someone, I don't know if they had just met, or how they met, but for some reason she was in conversation with this person. The woman asked her, "So, what do you do?" My mom replied that she was a new mom. The woman looked at her almost in confusion and replied, "No, no... I mean what do you DO?" My mom then repeated that she was a mom, and that she stayed at home full-time. The woman looked disgusted as if that is the biggest waste of a lifetime that anyone could possibly choose. Jane Clayson Johnson, the author of "I am a Mother" had an experience almost identical to this experience that she wrote about in her book. I think it is so sad that people view child-rearing as a burden, or the less noble way to go. I feel sad for those people that they may never experience the true over-whelming joy that comes along with being a mother. I personally have never found a more fulfilling job than that of motherhood, and I know that I would not be who I am today, had other women, such as my own mother, and my grandmothers sought the praise of the world instead of taking part in raising and teaching children. I am so grateful for the many great examples of motherhood in my life. I have had the great examples of my mother, mothers-in-law, my aunt, my grandmothers, my sisters-in-law, my cousin, etc. who have all helped me, and given me the strength I need to be a mother myself. I am grateful for the mother figures in Josten's life, that have shaped him to be who he is today. I also have many friends in Moscow, in Post Falls, and friends from highschool that have been great examples of motherhood to me. Last of all, I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to be Breck's Mommy. He is such a delight and life would be so empty without him. Josten and I constatly ask ourselves, "What was life for before Breck?" I love him so much, and his little sister Sienna, who will shortly grace our lives with her presence. Thinking about our family I know for a fact that there truley is no other greater profession than that of parenthood.

Sarah's Subsequent Birthday Celebrations

Wow! It was a busy week for all of us! Josten had most of his finals and final projects due, so he had a lot of over-nighter parties with the U of I Library! He finally got all of his work done, and felt pretty confident about the out-come. Sarah had her birthday on Wednesday, April 30th, but the celebration seemed to last all week! A bunch of Sarah's friends here threw her a birthday bash on Tuesday, then on Wednesday, Josten was able to come home from school early (relatively speaking) and spend some time with the birthday girl, then out to Winger's for dinner. On Friday, Josten threw Sarah a birthday party with friends from our ward, now that most of their stresses were relieved school-wise as well! On Saturday, Sarah went up to Coeur d'Alene for the day and celebrated her sister Mary's birthday with the family. Let's just say we're all kinda caked-out!!!

This is Breck on Sarah's actual Birthday

Sarah and Breck on her Birthday

These are some cute cookie "flowers" that one of Sarah's visiting teachers brought her!

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Sarah on Friday

This is a picture Josten drew for Sarah, he copied it from a picture he took at Christmas (See Christmas post for example of the real picture)

Breck and his girlfriend Payton at the Friday party

Mary and Kevin, celebrating Mary's birthday

Variety Show!

On Saturday, we went to our ward variety show! It was tons of fun! They had some really cool acts and performances. We had singing time with some of the cutest kids you've ever seen, a bluegrass band, a martial arts performance, poetry, a trombone duet, and lots of musical performances. Sarah even performed a song she wrote a couple of years ago called "The Comforter". It was a lot of fun, and really neat to see what talent different members of our ward have, that we had no clue of before!

Sarah's Birthday Celebration #1

This weekend, Sarah's parents came down to Moscow to celebrate Sarah's 22 birthday. They came because her birthday falls in the middle of the week, and it's hard traveling down mid-week while working! They took Sarah (and family) out to a steak dinner, and then we all came back, and Sarah opened gifts from her parents! It was a lot of fun, and she got a lot of really nice things! Thanks Mom and Dad!

28 Weeks

I thought I'd better give another update on the pregnancy before it passes by! Well, I just had my 28-week appointment today, and everything is looking good, and is normal. I had to take the glucose test (for those of you who don't know what that consists of, you pretty much have to chug 10 onces of what seems to be soda syrup, then they take your blood to check glucose levels) which I hated the first time, but hated even more this time around. It doesn't help that once you've finished and kept down the nasty stuff, they stick a needle in your arm and take blood... yuck!!! Anyway, I also had to get my Rhogam shot, since my blood is RH negative. That's also a fun experience, since they don't exactly give it to you in your arm. But besides that, it's good to be in my third and final trimester, and to be that much closer to when Siennna will join us. I now have to go into the doctor every two weeks, instead of every month, since I'm starting the final stretch. I also thought I should share an updated picture of my belly, since I finally "popped"! It seemed like I just looked down one day, and there was a full, pregnant belly! I'm feeling pretty good, although I get tired from time to time, I feel like I am able to stay energized enough to keep up with a running one-year-old, and undoing all of the messes he makes! Sienna moves around a lot now, and mostly in the morning. She's still not quite the kicker Breck was, which I guess is fine, she is a girl after all. Well, that's about all the info for now, if anything changes or progresses, we'll let you know!

Me and Sienna at 28 weeks

Name-nen

A few days ago, after saying the blessing at dinner time, we said our "amens" and Breck looked at us and said "Name-nen!" We thought it was so funny because it sounded like "Amen", but we quickly dismissed it. Then for family prayer that night, it happened again, and again for the next food blessing, and then for family prayer again. It soon became in sync with the person who was not saying the prayer or blessing, and now happens quite regularly! I think it's safe to say that he actually is participating in prayers now, and knows that he is supposed to say "Amen" afterwards. He's such a funny little guy! Good job Breck!

Maybe We're Related?

I was reading the blog of our friends the Todds, and read about how their newborn son has the newborn-fuzzy ears. I thought that was so cute, and it got me thinking about if I remember Breck having that or not. I couldn't come to a certain conclusion, but my mind still wandered on the subject of my son's ears. I thought about how his ears are similar to mine, but they have a certain feature that neither Josten or I have. It's a feature that reminds me very much of someone that I know, or know of, and I couldn't put my finger on it. Finally, it came to me! But I think I need to do some family history work now to see if we may in fact be related to the person that Breck's ears take after!

What do you think?

An Army of Four

It's now official, we are an Army family! That's right, Sarah joined the military. Just kidding, Josten joined the Army ROTC program this week, and has physical training 3 mornings a week. Joining the military is something that Josten has always wanted to do, but something that has always made Sarah nervous. But, we have counciled together as a family, and feel that it is a good decision for us right now. First of all, Josten will get paid 1500 dollars a month just to go to school until he gets his B.S. degree. Then, he is going to apply for the JAG program (you know the T.V. show?) and they will pay for him to go to school, and employ him as well, making for a nice income while we are still in law school. Here's the best part school-wise: They are going to give him 20,000 after he graduates with a bachelor to pay back any student loans we had previous to the military! So, not only do we not have to take out more loans for continued schooling, but we will be able to pay the majority of our loans in one payment! Yahoo! Then, if he gets into the JAG program, he will have an automatic job once he is done with law school for six years, and maybe longer if he decides to stay longer. Then, after years of having a secure job, he could retire, and get monthly retirement from the military, while still working in law somewhere else! It really feels like the right thing for us to do, although it will be a lot of work as well. The good news is, is that his chances are low that he will be deployed because he is in officer training, and not just combat training, plus, the field he is going into won't likely get him deployed right away. Also, if he goes into the JAG, there is a much less chance that he will get deployed. Anything can change, of course, but at least the chances are lower. So anyway, this is definitely a new chapter in our family's life, but it is exciting as well. There are a lot of other beneifits that will come also, such as great medical benefits, cheap travel, and paid vacations. So we are very excited, as I've stated many times before. A lot of new and interesting elements will join our family because of this.

Spring Life on the Palouse

Well, I figured it's been almost two weeks since I last posted, so it's about time I post something new! Nothing out of the ordinary has happened, life just keeps floating along for us Cornetts! We'll just give you an update on the happenings in our lives right now. Josten is getting closer and closer to being done for this semester, one year down, however many more to go! It's looking pretty positive that he'll be finishing this semester with a 4.0, so that's exciting as well! The weather has been really pretty here everyday, and we are all starting to get spring fever, except for the fact that it isn't quite 55 degrees! The temperature is looking promising though, and we are supposed to be up to 70 by a week and a half! Yahoo! Breck is having fun now that he can walk, and he is so anxious to start running. The poor little kid gets so excited and starts moving faster, then trips over his own little legs! He's getting into more and more as he figures more and more out. He's been getting into cabinets for awhile, but now he gets into packages in the cabinets, especially if it's food. Today Josten caught him getting into some crackers. This last weekend we went up to Coeur d'Alene, but only for the day, to see Sarah's "Uncle" Donny. He's a close family friend that has always been referred to as an uncle, and viewed as none-the-less. It was his first time meeting Breck, so that was fun for all. Sarah just keeps going about life as a mom, marveling at the little boy her once-baby is turning into, and trying to keep up regardless of her ever-diminishing energy! She is now 6 months along, and feels Sienna quite regularly. That's about it for us right now, life is good, and we enjoy everyday we have together, even if it seems to become redundant, we still love it because we feel like we are taking part in something truley great: our family.

Easter Weekend

We had a really great weekend! It was great Easter Holiday, and it was wonderful to reflect on the meaning of it. It truly is amazing what we celebrate, the fact that Jesus Christ voluntarily gave His life up in one of the most gruesome ways so that we could all be able to reach salvation through obedience, then through His abounding love and mercy. I love the time of year, and watching everything become new again, just as we can become new and fresh through Him. We went to the Tri-cities this weekend to celebrate with Josten's family, and we had such a great time. It was so wonderful to be able to be around family, just mingling, and having fun! We didn't get too many pictures, but here is one of the family together.