the swagger wagon lost some swagg

 Tennessee has a lot of trees.  Tennessee also has a lot of hills and a lot of really long, steep, gravel driveways with trees everywhere.  On Friday I took the girls out to my friend's dad's house to see his new puppies.  When I was leaving, I backed down this side driveway to get turned around to go down the long, steep driveway.  As I was backing up I heard a loud pop.  I turned around and saw the glass on the back window shatter.  I had hit a tree.  I was so confused because I was relying on my back up beepers to alert me if I was close (obviously I was looking behind me as well, but I was looking out the driver's side back thinking that's where most of the trees were, but my spatial awareness failed me).  The beepers never went off!  Apparently when I was cleaning out the van earlier in the week, one of the girls turned them off.  Either way, it's completely my fault and I felt like a complete idiot.  It probably wouldn't have happened if the beepers were on, but I realize now that I rely too much on them.  I took the van in but unfortunately the dent is the type they really can't get out so the rear lift gate has to be replaced.  We were thinking of just living with the dent and replacing the window but the window costs more than our insurance deductible so we are just getting the whole thing fixed.  This is the first time in my life I have ever crashed a car and hopefully it will be the last.  For now we are without the van for probably a week and a half to two weeks.  I feel so dumb about the whole thing but I keep thinking that if I am going to get in a wreck, I am glad it happened the way it did.  I mean, if I had damaged something on her dad's property that would have been way worse.  Or what if I had hit her dad's dog or one of my friend's kids or something.  Or another vehicle.  Nobody was hurt in anyway, there was no damage to the property, the van can be repaired and I am so glad I ruined something that belonged to me. Overall, it was a pretty lousy ending to a pretty lousy week!  The girls have been struggling with allergies, which means they haven't had stellar sleep and therefore a bad case of the grumpies most of the week.  My back has been bothering me on and off for weeks.  Today is the first day I feel like I can move normally.  I have also been having these really crazy nose bleeds at least once a week. I haven't had a bloody nose since I was a kid so I don't know what is going on.  They are horrible.  They will start for no reason and I will soak a few washcloths with blood.  Then an hour or two later it will start again.  I have no idea what is causing them, but if they keep happening I need to go in and see if a doctor can figure out if it's something more than changing seasons.  Here's to a fresh (and hopefully much better) week!

brushing and flossing

 On Wednesday a dentist visited Heidi's school.  She was so excited about everything she learned and especially about the new toothbrush, floss, and timer she received.  She spent a large portion of her day brushing and flossing and instructing her sisters on how to properly care for their pearly whites.  It was very fun to watch and I love how Caimbree just goes along with whatever her older sisters do.  Love these girls and their extra clean teeth!

funny little girls

 Caimbree loves to snuggle.  She often comes to me with her blankie ("clankie") and asks to "rock."  This morning Savanna was adamant that she was the one to snuggle and do the rocking.  She looks so cute with her new haircut sporting her groovy sunglasses.  Caimbree calls Savanna "Wanna", which sounds like Wanda and it makes us laugh every time she wants her Wanna.

I wanted to record a few funny things these two have been saying/doing lately.

*The girls were playing legos and Caimbree brought me one of the people to fix because all the pieces were separated.  She didn't bring me the pants so I told her to go get the pants.  She took off at a full run, but to her bedroom.  She came back out with a pair of her pants to put on the Lego girl.

*We took the Jeff's commuter car (which is what the girls call the car every time they mention it) to church.  When we got home and pulled into the driveway, Savanna, with a very concerned voice, said, "Wait!  Where's the commuter car?!" Heidi says, "We're in it".  To which Savanna responded, "Oh.  Silly me."

*Savanna refers to goosebumps as freeze bumps.

*After playing in the tub for a long time and then getting out, Savanna looked at her fingers and was very worried and said, "Where did my normal fingers go??!!"

*When we were checking out at Kroger, Savanna kept saying, "I'm full of bologna."  The cashier thought it was pretty funny.  That night I told her to tell Jeff what she said at Kroger and she said, "I'm full of meat!"

*I made the girls french toast for breakfast.  I ran out of bread and there was still a little egg mixture left so I scrambled it and put it on my plate.  When Savanna saw my plate she said, "Oh my!  That's QUITE the breakfast!"

Sometimes being a mom can feel so...what's the word?  Exhausting, 

worrisome...heavy.  Some days are wonderful and 

magical and other days I am counting the seconds to bedtime.

I can't keep up with the housework, I don't ave enough time to give to each girl

exactly what they need.  I feel like am always, always failing in some capacity or another.

But I love these girls more than I ever thought possible and wouldn't 

trade any of the craziness, lost sleep, or worry.  I can't

wait to see the amazing people they become and I am so very grateful

for the love and laughter they bring into or home.  I just wish

they could stay little longer.

belated valentine's celebration

 We had a small snowstorm that shut schools down for a few days.  The snow really wasn't a big deal and the ice wasn't bad, but they take winter pretty seriously around here haha.  Poor Heidi was devastated at the timing.  She missed her party and then there was a holiday Monday so on Wednesday (a week later than planned) they finally had the party.  Heidi was thrilled.  She spent the morning picking the perfect Valentine outfit and hairdo.  I love how much she loves school.

Heidi begged me to be at the party.  As a former teacher, I know that me coming isn't exactly the ideal situation because of the two smaller children that are kind of part of the package.  The little girls were having a rough morning...Caimbree is teething with those blasted canines and has been off for a couple of weeks and Savanna woke up too early. I really didn't think it would be a good idea to go but I knew Heidi would be so disappointed if I wasn't there and I kept thinking about how she won't beg for me to be with her for all of this stuff forever.  So I went and I was so glad I did.  Her little face just lit up when she saw us walk in.  She was so cute with her sisters and was sharing all of her little treats with them.  I loved seeing her interact with her classmates and as a bonus, the little girls were really well behaved.  They found some books and kept themselves busy and out of trouble.  I'm so glad I went and got to see Heidi enjoying the place she loves so much!

one year

I have been trying to write this post for over a week and keep getting distracted and then when I do have a second, the thoughts in my head don't come out the right way when I type them.  Last weekend marks one year since the first time Jeff and I came out for Jeff's job interview.  I don't know why, but it hit me like a ton of bricks Sunday.  I was sitting in our short sacrament meeting and I realized we were sitting just a few pews in front of the first place we sat the weekend we came out and went to sacrament meeting hoping it would help us make a decision on where our lives would lead.  One year.  It feels like a few months.  The emotions of the whole decision and change still feel huge sometimes.  Making this move was probably one of the scariest and bravest things I have ever done.  It probably wouldn't have seemed quite so huge if it was just me and Jeff.  Hauling our three little girls and fearing whether or not we were doing the right thing for them was so terrifying because we knew once we moved, we couldn't take it back. And really, how do you know for sure you're going to be okay until you are there?  We were living in our "forever" home and knew that the financial hit we were taking to move would mean we would probably never be able to go back west for a long time.  I really felt that we had to rely solely on faith and that the feeling we felt when we prayed about everything, was the spirit telling us to go..even if it really did not fit with the "plan" we saw for our future.  When I think back to everything that happened to push us to make the move, I wonder how we even doubted what path we should take.  I still have moments of worry, even though so far I really do feel like we should be here.  I have learned so many lessons and so much about myself from this change.  Maybe that's why the one year mark has been so emotional.  It has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, especially the first 6 months or so.  We are looking forward to celebrating our one year mark of living here and are excited to see what the next year will bring!

a day of love

 Happy Valentine's Day!  I absolutely adore Valentine's Day, especially with three little girls.  They are all about everything having to do with the holiday.  They got an early Valentine package from Grandma Hunziker and another one from Uncle Michael and Aunt Gabby.  That got them really excited for the holiday.  Unfortunately due to another very small snowstorm Heidi's Valentine celebration at school was cancelled (they will celebrate this week).  They are very serious about snow and ice here haha.

We had a fun weekend.  We went to a birthday party for the daughter of a friend Jeff works with in the afternoon.  They had a bouncy house and the girls had so much fun.  It was funny because our girls are a bit on the cautious side.  Caimbree was the first one to climb in and then Savanna realized it was okay.  After Heidi realized her little sisters were having a blast, she decided she should give it a try.  It was a fun party and we were glad we decided to go.

 After the girls went to bed we set up a little Valentines surprise.  We set out roses for each them, a balloon, a new pair of pjs, and special valentine from each of us.  When they woke up they were so excited.  I loved seeing their excitement.  They played with the balloons for a long time and wanted to put their new pajamas on right away.

 I made the girls pink pancakes, which they were very thrilled about.  We spent the rest of the morning playing around and getting ready for church.  The girls looked so cute in all their pink. An ice/rain was supposed to come in tonight so when we got to church they announced we would take the sacrament and then everyone would be sent home.  So far the roads and weather seem just fine and I am hoping they stay fine so I don't have to worry about Jeff getting to work safely tomorrow.  If you can see the big bruise on Savanna's head it's from an accident she had on Thursday.  I was doing my workout and I had weights.  She was running back and forth past me getting books.  She ran at the same time I was raising the weights and her head went straight into the weight.  I felt so bad and I feel so bad every time I look at her head.  She's still adorable with or without the bruise.  Love these sweet girls of mine.  I loved being able to spend the day thinking of how much I love my little family!  Happy Valentine's Day!

happy birthday to our favorite guy

 We got to celebrate Jeff's 34th birthday today!  We are so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing man in our lives.  He is the most amazing husband and father in every way.  We started the day by letting him sleep while we made him German Pancakes. We surprised him with hearts all over his bedroom door listing all the things we love about him.  It was a hit.  Then we watched a video the girls had put together for him where they were singing and answering questions about their dad.  Some of my favorite answers were:


Where is dad's favorite place to go?
The granite store.

I think that answer explains what we have been doing a lot of lately haha.

How tall is dad?
8 feet 

Close.  Very close.

What cartoon character would dad be?
Goofy, because he's so funny.

What makes dad sad?
Nothing.  He's always happy.

It was a very cute video and we all had a blast watching the girls express their love for their daddy.

We took Jeff to Best Buy to check out computers and some other things last night, but he said he just wanted to look for now.


One of my sweet friends said she would watch the girls for us so we went out for a birthday dinner.  It was so nice to have a little time together because we really never go anywhere alone.  The girls had fun and we made sure to come back in time for cheesecake together.  We had cheesecake with our friends.  The girls went to bed very tired and very happy.  It was a fun day celebrating Jeff.  We love him so very much!  He is the definition of a great man.  Happy Birthday, Jeff!