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A Christmas Season Hello

Hi Everyone- Just wanted to stop by and put in an update. Things are going very well. We have settled into our new (old) house and are loving it here. Its such a nice house and a very nice neighborhood. Its just feels so safe and the neighbors are all quite friendly. What helps I think is that I already knew our next door neighbors on both sides, since my mum has been living here prior to us and I grew up in this house. I feel comfortable here taking Layla out in the front yard to play.....I never would have done that in our old neighborhood. Its so nice being closer to James' work and our church. James actually comes home most days for lunch which is so nice!

I am going to be starting to work 5hrs a week, doing occupational therapy again. I hage signed on to work in a clinic in North Scottsdale but have not started working yet. Still getting things finalized. I think it will be good to be back working, but I am glad I can work just 5hrs a week. Mym mum will be watching Mckayla on her day off.

Mckayla continues to be a busy little girl. She is walking well now and just loves to walk around and get into things. She has such a sweet personality and is always making James and I laugh. Mckayla and I started attenind a MOPS program at my church. Its Mothers of Preschoolers but the kids can actually be anywhere from newborn to 5yrs old. The moms listen to guest speakers, do crafts and socialize while the kids have a program of their own called Moppets. Mckayla seems to do well in the 1yr old room and she seems to enjoy interacting with the other kids. She just loves other kids.

We are looking forward to Christmas, our favorite holiday. We will see James' parents and siblings, my mum, and my Dad and step-family. James' brother and sister in law, and his sister are all coming in from out of town for Christmas. It will be so njice to see them. They live out of state and we have not seen any of them since August.

James has a week off between Christmas and New year's so we are looking forward to having some time just to relax at home as a family.

Anyway thats our news for now. I hope you are all well.

Been Awhile

Its been awhile. Life has been busy but really good. We have now moved to Tempe. We are living in the house I grew up in and very happy here. We like the house a lot and really like the neighborhood. James even comes home for lunch msot days which is nice for all of us. Layla enjoys seeing Daddy but hates it whn he leaves again after only being home for a little. The dogs have adjusted to their new home and are settling in quite well. They now have a nice backyard to run around in- though they seem to spend more time inside than out still.

Layla is growing so much and its so fun to watch her personality develop more and more. She is such a character and has such a sweet personality. We are so blessed to be her parents! She is walking quite well now and is very busy exploring everything. She loves to go outside and play.....now that we have a nice and safe front yard and neighborhood to exploreAnd Layla loves to go in the pool.

I have just signed a contract to work 5 hours a week in a therapy clinic in scottsdale and am looking forward to starting soon.....once we get 5 kiddos on my caseload. I am excited to go back to work but to be able to do very part time so I can be home most of the time with Mckayla. My mum will be watching her when I work. I am so glad I do not have to take her to daycare.

Anyway Mckayla has just woken up from her nap and wants some attention so I better go. Will try to post more often- we are just so busy!

We've moved!!

Just wanted to check in as its been awhile. Life has been crazy but good. we have just moved bak to Tempe and are so happy about the move. We are a bit stressed and busy but once we get unpacked and settled I am sure the stress will resolve for the most part. Mckayla is adjusting well to the move and Hailey and Cindal are doing ok, although I think the are bugging our new dog Zephyr. well as some of you may know- he is not actually a nw dog- he s the dog Mum got me in hgihschool but my mum left him to stay with us when we moved. She moved out of her house , leaving Zephyr and we moved in. So our dogs and Zephyr are having to adjust to each other. But its actually going better than we expected it to.



Unfortunately we have discovered we have roof rats. we have had an exterminator out and in the past day we caught two in the traps in the attic. We will be doing some yard work and little fix-it projects to attempt to stop any more rats from making their home in our garage or attic. st nieve and actually am notany

I have not yet returned to work but have three more interviews coming up and have already had a job offer. However I want to go for the rest of the interviews before making any decisions. When I return to work it will just be for 5 or 6 hours on wednesdays when my mu is available to babysit Mckayla. James is still working at Stantec and is now enjoying living so close to work. It takes him about 10-15mins depending on traffic as opposed to the 45 or so mins it used to take. He has even been home for lunch the last three days!! I am much happier in this neighborhood and have even taken Mckayla out on walks just the two of us- which I never would have done in our old neighborhood. I jst feel safer here. Dont know if its just that I am more comfortable because I grew up in this neighborhood or if I am just nieve and am actually no more safe than in our old neighborhood.

anyway I better go join my husband who is sound asleep snoring!!

Busy life in the home of the Campings

Things here have been very busy. We went to IL a few weeks ago to see James' brother Jon get married. It was lovely to be there to celebrate their special day with them. They are now going to be living in KA.

Now we are much busier here at home than it has been for quite some time. Can you guess why this might be?? Mckayla is now crawling very very quickly and also puilling herself up on things and walking h\olding onto furniture and tables. This means we are constanly trying to chase after her and keep hjer out of mischief but thats a big task. She likes to pull things off coffee tables etc. She is getting strongert every7day and is already able to just stand herelf up in the middle of the room withpout holding on to anything. But she is niot yet walking unassisted. I am sure that will be soon though.

We are still trying to deal with the hassles of trying to shortsale or fforeclose the house and just haviong issues with oiur primary mortgage company and we justwant to be done with all the drama that always seemjs to be involved. Basically they told us they would approve a shoretsale if we agreed to pasy $10.000 over a course of 8.5 years. My husband and I are not willing to do this so the realtor suggested James writye them a letter andf state that. Howevever we all knew it would make no differen ce but felt it should be done to make it official. Well when they got the letter of refusal they said ok anyway and approved it. Unfortunatey by this timke the buyer had gotten fed up with the mortgage company for taking so long and went off and bought a house over that weekend. SO the house is on the market yet again. Very frustrating and I so just want to move. In fact James does too. It would make life much simpler. We want to be closer to his work (less drive time and less cost for gas to get there), closer to church (which would help me to be able to get more involved with a Bible study and MOPS (a moms group), it would get us closer to my besat friend and her family , and also my parents. All of which I think would make life simpler and easier. It gets very lonely out here away from everyone, particulalrly when James is at wiork all day and Mckayla and I don't get out much as there is nowhere to go near us and no one to hang out with out here-who has any time to do that. SO we cannot wait to move to the east valley and see hjow much that will change things.

I am tired and need to head for bed....another thing that has been hard lately. My brain just never wants to shut down - I have a hard time sleeping and do resort to sleep meds at times. I sometimes wonder if the difficulty sleeping has som,ething to do wioth my fibromyalgia. Who knows?

Anyway I better go. I will try to post some pics tomorrow!!

opps

opps- I meant to say at the bottom of the last post -if you want to see more pics take a look nat our hoto website at tp://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesandmarionhoneymoon/

some pics from our trip

For more photos check out our flikr website at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesandmarionhoneymoon

Been awhile!

Ok so apprently I am no good at updating blogs. I always forget. The life we lead here is busy. Mckayla continues to grow with leaps and bounds. She is still tiny for her age but has recently gained a pound in a matter of two weeks which is a wonderful gain for her. She is growing so much especially in her personality right now. She has the swetest little giggle I have ever heard and I hear it constantly through out our daily life. She is such a happy, easy going baby. reaally our only issue has been her not eating enough and not gaining enough weight. But the dr sees nothing wrong with her as she is developing wonderfully in all other areas.

We recently took a lovely trip to Australia with my dad, Molly (my step-mom), Missy (my step-sister) to visit our family there. James, Mckayla and I stayed with my grandfather (my Mum's dad) while we were in Melbourne. We caught up with lots of family and friends. everyone enjoyed meeting Mckayla for the first time. We mainly spent time with family and friends but also went out to Healsville Sanctuary to see the very unique Australian animals and Mckayla seemed to love it there! After 9 days in Melbourne we met back up with Dad, Molly and Missy in Cairns (which is located on the coast of the Great Barrier reef) and enjoyed 3 days there with the ovely warm tropical weather. We enjoyed the beach and had a short boat ride out to an Island where we enjoyed the beach and Missy and James did some snorkeling. Unfortunately while in Australia, James, Mckayla and I all got sick. James got a cold, I got bronchitis and Mckayla got her first ever cold! The fkight there and back was nowhere near as difficult as we thought it would be with Mckayla. She slept a lot and played a bit- and was very very good.

Now that we are back home- we are working on taking care of the house and starting to think about our upcoming move. We hope to move in about October and head to rent out in the east valley ( east suburbs of Phoenix). we cannot wait to move out there somewhere closer to James work, closer to church, closer to my best friend and closer to my family.

Our puppies Hailey and Cindal are really no longer puppies. They are now 2 years old and between 60 and 70lbs. Still full of energy though. They are amazinggly good with Mckayla and its so fun to watch her interact with them! She absoultely adores her dogs and we can often hear her giggling at them -as she watches them in their little fenced area. !Her newest move is to give them her toys through the bars on their little fenced area. Hailey recently had a nice chomp on a newly purchased wooden toy bock! Just for those who do not know what I am talking about- we have a small fenced area inside where the dogs can be when we do not want to closely monitor their interactions with Mckayla or if we are not home. This area gives them access to being inside but also keeps them from getting into mischief. The doggy door is accessible from their area so they can also go out whenever they want. They are not always in there. If we are home and Mckayla is not on the floor crawling (or we are watching closely) they can be out of the area. Also they sleep in our room on doggy beds (cushions really) too. So they are not locked up all the time!

Thars about all our news for now!! will try to update more often!!

Mckayla's birthday party photos

Photos from Sedona trip