What a great Thanksgiving!

We had an awesome Thanksgiving! We went to San Tan Valley to be with Paul's family. We picked up Paul's brother Kevin from the airport that evening and just hung out and saw lots of family. Kevin's girlfriend Linda was also there so it was good to FINALLY meet her! Our Thanksgiving day feast actually went from an expect 20 or so people to just our immediate family so it was nice.

That night we (Cindy, Linda and I) made our way to Walmart for BLACK FRIDAY stuff. IT WAS NUTS! It was bumper to bumper shopping cart traffic. We got there at 9:58 and made our way through the craziness and I got everything I wanted.... but what I wanted wasn't anything in too high of demand.... a few sets of sheets and a telescope. After maybe 20 minutes of pushing through the crowd we stood in line for 45 minutes and then found Cindy (she parked the car for us and had left her phone at home so we didn't see here the entire time we were shopping). When we got outside it was pouring rain! It just made the night that much more fun! It was my first CRAZY black Friday experience, last year wasn't nearly as bad, but we went to Target and it was a bit after the sale had started.

But the highlight of our vacation was Friday. Bill has been asking us since we got married when would be a good time to do his family's temple work. Well we FINALLY were able to get started on it. It was so special to be able to get baptized for these family members who I never even met. We all got so emotional when Bill was able to baptize Paul in behalf of his (Bill's) dad. It was a very special day. We planned on doing everything, even the sealing of Bill's parents but the temple was so busy that we were only able to do the baptism and initiatory of the ones that needed it in the amount of time we had.

Before we did baptisms we were told it would be an hour wait so we went over to the distribution center and Paul got new scriptures (somehow his mission ones managed to get lost) and we were FINALLY able to purchase our temple clothes! It was so awesome... I think that is the best early Christmas present I've ever received! We haven't been able to do a session at our own temple yet because they don't rent clothes and we didn't have our own. It was such a special day!

After about 2 months of me nagging, I mean gently reminding, Paul we FINALLY (yes, I realize everything is FINALLY happening) were able to make our way into the city and find a scrub store for Paul to get new scrubs. He only had 2 pairs of pants and one was girls and flare on the bottom and I had to sew it straight before he would wear them. We got him 2 new sets and the lady at the store was awesome and even gave us 10% off just because! (turns out that she got married at the Mt Graham golf course 2 years ago... small world!)

It was such a great vacation and visit and Thanksgiving! We wished we could have stayed longer but Paul had to work today and no one would trade :( but that's okay because I was really glad to get to go to Clint and Tiffany's baby shower!!

I'm 3!

Hayden turned 3 last week! He sure was ready!! He's been saying he's 3 for a while now. Two days before his birthday I said "Hayden in 2 days your going to be 3! How do you feel about that?" He said... "4." Guess he was just counting up. We had a little party at home on his actually birthday where he opened gifts from mom and dad. He has quite a few little friends his age so I thought it would be fun to have a party at the park with friends. He picked "Blues Clues" as the theme but I really think he would have rather chosen CARS!

The at home party:

He also got this AWESOME Mater car that blows bubbles as you push it from Grandma and Grandpa Clites and let me tell you, he pushes that thing EVERYWHERE!! We decided instead of blowing bubbles, it should suck dirt! He even takes it to bed and it sleeps next to him and he sometimes won't let me go anywhere unless Mater is in the car! :) He's just so cute!

It was a special birthday! Thank you everyone who came and helped us celebrate!

and no.... we did not consume all of the leftover cake! :)

He had his 3 year old check up the day after his birthday and he was in the 13% for his weight and 4% for his height. I guess I need to feed him more veggies! ;) The doctor was asking all the "does he know" questions and one of them was can he count to 5? I said he can count to 20! He amazes me all the time with how smart he is. A few weeks ago he just randomly sang the whole alphabet!

I don't really think its fair

My sister's 10 year high school reunion is this year and I guess she goes to the planning meetings or something. She was telling me that they decided that only the people that graduated with them could come to the activities. I sure hope that whoever is on the committee when my 10 year reunion time comes around doesn't feel the same way. I grew up in this town and went to Thatcher K-11. My mom got remarried and we moved the summer before my senior year. Even though I didn't technically graduate at THS, I still want to see the people I grew up with. Is that so much to ask?

The key to taking pictures

A photographer's blog that I follow, Katie Evans Photography, is having a giveaway for her book "The Key to Taking Pictures" Go check it out here.

2 long years

2 years of prerequisites.

2 years of Nursing school.

Many, MANY trips to phoenix.

Lots and LOTS of hours studying.

Way too much stress.

Way too many energy drinks consumed.

More hours in class than at home.

Service hours.

Clinical Simulation time.

Shots given.

Playtime missed out on.

Massages given.

Pain medication taken.

Books purchased.

Books read.

Information learned.

Knowledge gained.

NCLEX..... PASSED!

2 years ago we found out that Paul got accepted into the nursing program. We were so scared and so excited and so overwhelmed all at the same time. I know that he will be a good nurse. I'm so proud him for all of his hard work, long hours and dedication. He amazes me with how much he knows. There was not a doubt in my mind that he would pass that test. All of his long hours and hard work have finally paid off. He is officially PAUL LINCOLN CLITES, Registered Nurse! And I couldn't be more proud!! I love you Paul, Congratulations!

25!!

Wednesday was my birthday and as usual, Paul spoiled me! He kept asking me what I wanted and I reminded him that the "Just A Pinch" action set he bought me a month ago was my gift. I woke up to my camera set up on a tripod! I seriously stood there for like 30 seconds in shock! I told Paul too bad our camera doesn't have a motion sensor cause that would have been a classic picture. He made me a delicious breakfast of French Toast with strawberries and home made whip cream. After breakfast he pulled out another present! I couldn't believe it. A camera bag! I needed one so bad. For dinner we got pizza and a movie and after it got dark we set up the tripod outside and drew with sparklers.

Paul's attempt. He forgot he was supposed to write backwards!

My attempt....

Hayden playing...

I told Paul I wanted a party, mostly because friends that we don't see very often were in town and it was a good excuse to get together. So Friday Clint and Tiffany were so wonderful to lend their house to us for a few hours. It was so fun. Someone ordered pizza and everyone brought some sort of goodies! My homemade ice cream was a hit! It was such a fun night! A special thanks to Clint and Tiffany for letting us borrow their home! Love you guys!

modest swimsuits!

check out this site for some cute and modest swim wear!

http://www.hapari.com/modest-tankinis/

Thanks!

snake

Came home Saturday to find this little guy roaming the backyard. Luckily he's a good snake and we decided he can stay. We've been finding a lot of mouse holes lately and he's a good thing to have around. Sugar wasn't so sure about it though. But as it slithered away into the back of the yard, she barked and barked as if she was trying to convince it to stay!

Easter

My sister came over Friday with her kids and we had a BBQ and colored eggs. Then of course we had an easter egg hunt.

Hayden and I had another hunt with Taryn and her kids on Saturday.... Hayden was more interested in all the toys there and even threw and egg off of a car so he could ride it! Sunday was relaxing, Paul's parents came down and surprised us when they popped up during church. We just ate lunch and hung out then they had to go home. I was planning a Ham dinner, but I had a headache all day so that didn't happen. It was a good day though.

Circus!

The circus came to town! Since Paul was out of town, he said I should take Hayden. I didn't think it was worth the money, but since Hayden is 2 he was free, so it ended up being cheaper than I thought it would.

The best part of the whole show.... the lion and tigers!

The hula hoop girl

The trapeze lady

They had some other stuff too but these were the best acts! If I go to the circus again, I'm going to make sure its a bigger one, one with Elephants!! But Hayden had fun, so that's what counts!

Student of the Year ceremony

Wednesday was the Student of the Year ceremony. We looked at the program and saw that Nursing was like the 5th department to be awarded. That was nice because Hayden did not want to sit still, much less even be there. Before the thing even started I was wandering around with him. Yeah.... we left right after Paul received his award.

Paul and his teacher Thelma

Poopy in the potty

*****WARNING! THIS POST IS ABOUT POOP********

sorry if its gross to you!

I haven't started potty training Hayden but ever since he saw Carsten going potty, he wants to try and go a few times a day. Either that or he just likes getting his diaper off so he can run around naked for a while... Well today after church Hayden wanted to go potty so I took him thinking he just sit there a minute and want down like he usually does. Well he sat there a minute and wanted his diaper on. I knew he needed to poop because at church he tried a few times with no luck. I told him to pretend the toilet was his diaper and to push hard and listen for a plop sound. So we sang a few songs and he had me leave for a while then I came back and sang a while longer. Pretty soon we heard a plop! And a few more plops!! Then a BIG plop! He even went potty too! After that big plop he said all done and had a HUGE smile on his face! After he was all cleaned up, we told daddy and daddy got him a treat! There was lots of "GOOD JOB's!!" and high fives! I was so proud of him!!!

Student of the Year!!

Paul's class voted him Student of the Year this year! They all had to write down a name of who they thought should be student of the year. They went to break and when they got back Paul's name was written on the board. He thought it was a joke and carried on for 10 minutes saying "ok really, who wrote my name up there?" He didn't believe it to the point that he said "if I really won this, I will shave my head." (Yeah that's what I said!) Turns out, it wasn't a joke. He had his appendix out last semester and works while going to school so I can stay home. I guess the class felt like he's worked pretty hard this year and deserves it (Paul is still saying yeah right to that!). He has worked hard this year! I'm really proud of him for all his hard work!!

well.... as hard as it was to bring the clippers to his head..... he did it, because "sometimes a man just has to be a man" as Paul put it.

Before.....

During....

And after..... (Hayden took this picture so sorry its all crazy.)
He wore it like this for about 2 days (with a hat on of course) then he shaved the Mohawk off. Sorry no picture of that. But Wednesday is the award ceremony thing where they give him the award and stuff so I'll post pictures of that ASAP!

Happenings

It sure warmed up (except that one weekend!) and Hayden wasted no time getting outside to play. Good thing Sugar loves Hayden because this is what he does to her....

I planted the garden the first week of March. This is about 2 1/2 weeks later...

peas
cantaloupe

We took a drive one day and I couldn't miss the chance...

hand prints up close

I forgot these in the other post and I hate when they are out of order so here you go....

some turned out cute....

some turned out like bear feet prints....

But Hayden had a lot of fun doing it! I helped him with about 10 of the blue ones and he did the rest all by himself! It was so much fun!

Hayden's Room...Done!

I have been wanting to repaint this room and make it into Hayden's room since my brother moved out last summer. I knew I wanted to do blue and brown but I didn't want to spend money on a wallpaper border or chair rail. I painted the ceiling and baseboards and primed the room and it sat that way for about a month until I figured out exactly what to do. Then I got it done in 3 days. So happy to be done with that project!

This is the before.... no offense to my sister, but this was horrible. It was a cute idea, but then it turned out like a 13 year olds room, not a girl in college's room. Also that lady that painted the faux finish didn't know what she was doing so it turned out terrible. It also had this purple wall paper border on the top with flowers and butterflies on it. It would have been cute if Hayden was a girl, but he's not so time for a change. (when my brother lived with us, he didn't care to paint it, so he lived in this room for about 2 years.)

We went to storytime at the Library last week and they had the kids to a finger paint hand print and I got the idea for the room! I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the room so this is what I did.... I used 1/2 can of the blue that was left from the bathroom and 1 gallon of this blue we bought for the bathroom but hated, and a little white. The color came out pretty close to the color of the bathroom. The tan is left from the other 2 bedrooms (we bought a 5 gallon bucket). I spent about $20 on the whole thing... tape, primer, and paint rollers.

Next up.... curtains and a quilt like the one from "Llama, Llama, Red Pajama." Hayden's been asking where his quilt is like "Jama's" So I guess I have to get on that. We don't really have any twin sized blankets anyway so it'll be fun.

knit monsters

Over at Make it and Love it, she's had a guest poster who has been teaching us how to knit! Well today that guest poster is offering a giveaway! A book of patterns for her knit monsters!! So cute! head over to www.makeit-loveit.com to check it out!

The Woombie Swaddler

Do you follow Make it and Love it?? Ashley at Make it and Love it is having an awesome giveaway!! It is for baby items that are awesome! Check it out here: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/04/woombie-swaddler-youre-going-to-love.html

March

It's been a while since I've updated so I thought I post a quick something.

Paul is still going strong in his last semester! February he spent 2 weekends in Phoenix for clinicals. This month he was able to be home every weekend. Next month, he is in Phoenix every single weekend. That is a lot of travel. I suggested they just have the whole class go up and just have the lectures up there for the whole month. It'll be: drive up there Wednesday after class, hang out Thursday, Friday and Saturday are clinicals all day, Sunday or Monday come back, Tuesday and Wednesday, lecture. Then it starts all over. Too much driving if you ask me. He is doing well with school work and tests. He decided to do his homework as it comes this semester and I can tell he is much more relaxed. He still works at Sunset Hills with Brendan. Paul was saying that his name was brought up in a meeting that Brendan went to and they had nothing but good things to say about his work ethic and performance. Paul also quit soda (with the occasional one at work). I know its been hard and he craves it, but he'd done so good so far. After a trip to the dentist a few weeks ago he said no more citric acid so he has mostly been on water.

Stephanie- I am still enjoying our calling in the nursery. Since the change of the year our group went from about 15-20 kids a week down to 10 or so. I have started going to Zumba about once a week. My friend Kaitlyn teaches one of the classes and my friend Taryn wanted to see what it was all about. We love it!! I can't help but smile the whole workout because its so fun! I'm always sore for at least 2 days afterwards. I would like to go back to school after Paul graduates. I want to learn more about photography, but also I think I may do something with accounting or something. I'm good with numbers and math comes very easy to me. Besides, you never know if something will happen and I need to get a job to support my family.

Hayden- After I babysat Brendan's kids and he saw Carsten going potty, Hayden wasn't scared of the toilet anymore and he let us set him on it. He has only gone potty in it once so far, but its a start. He is still nursing. (I'm a little embarrassed to admit it) It seems every time I'm ready to ween him and I'm determined, he gets sick. EVERY TIME! I'm in the process of painting the 3rd bedroom (that constantly had one of my siblings living in it) for Hayden, so he'll finally have his own room. He very much enjoys being outside for any reason. I'm not looking forward to summer when we can only stand the heat until about 11. I guess then we have to break out the pool ;) He still loves anything with wheels and drives them on anything flat. He's learning so much and talking really well. He loves to say prayers and sometimes makes us say 5 in a row! He can say one by himself and it goes something like this.... "Father.... Day.... Blessings.... Be safe.... Good dreams.... cars... light on... fan round round...." and then he names stuff he sees until I come in a finish the prayer. It is the cutest thing ever! At our WIC appointment the other day they got his height and weight... he's in the 13% for his height and 17% for his weight. But at least he isn't anemic anymore.

Family Life- We have been trying since about August to get pregnant. I think its the nursing that is preventing it. Paul does have a spot waiting for him as a nurse at the nursing home when he gets his RN. But he still wants to apply all over and see what happens. I planted our garden at the beginning of March. I really enjoy it. It is hard work tilling the ground by shovel and such but once the veggies arrive its so worth it. You've never had better peas or tomatoes than home grown ones. Hayden's favorite thing last summer was to pick the peas and eat them right out of the pod. I'm still trying to figure out exactly when to pick the food. Last year I picked the corn too late and the watermelon too early so we'll see I guess.

I guess that wasn't a quick something but there you go... if you even made it through that.

Soccer Night

A while back Paul, Clint and Dustin decided to go to Soccer night every Tuesday at the college. They would all meet down there and play a good game and come home sore and happy. Dustin occasionally would show up at our house before hand to change into soccer clothes. Well... winter came and soccer got cancelled for a while. That didn't mean that soccer night ended, nope not a chance. Soccer night turned into this....

And my son gets a little crazy

And this....

And my house gets rearranged...

I can't complain though. The boys work hard all the time, they deserve a night of fun once in a while.

so Tiff, is it like this when you host "soccer night"?

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Love,

Paul and Stephanie

To stay or not to stay?

Every time we meet with people and catch up, one of the questions that is always asked is "where are you guys going to move after Paul graduates?" The answer is always "we don't know, where ever we can get a job I guess." Well as of today we finally know where we are going to end up after Paul graduates. The answer: Right here in the good old GILA VALLEY! Paul has never like his job as a CNA (can you blame him?) but he knew that we needed the money, and they had a shift that worked with his school schedule (the night shift, bleh I know) and it was good experience for when he did start job hunting. But now that he's in his last semester and we are about to get our tax return and he wouldn't NEED to work until school is out, he thought about quitting his job. Since he hates it and all. (He doesn't mind the co-workers and such, just the butt wiping part). So today he went down to work and talked to his boss and asked if there would be a job there for him as a nurse once he graduated. Well the answer was definitely. She said she wouldn't promise that to just anyone so that made Paul feel appreciated and that he really is doing a good job (even though we all already knew that). I'm super excited! Now I'm not saying we'll be here forever, because eventually he wants to get his bachelors degree (EAC and ASU have teamed up so maybe we will stay forever!) But for now, we will be staying here for a while. :)

I LOVE IT!

For 3 1/2 years I have been washing dishes by hand. Let me tell you, it has been horrible! I'm the type of person who lets things pile up to the point of driving me crazy before I clean. So therefore the sink was always full of dishes. Plus I would just look at it and go.... ewe there's at least an hour and a half's worth there. Well, when Paul's school money came in we decided to get a new dishwasher! We had one that was at least 10 years old, and it was definitely used and abused. I don't think water even sprayed out of the thing. Dishes came out dirtier than they went in. It was just time. The new one arrived at 11:30 this morning and it took us 2 hours (and saved $100) to get the old one out and the new one in. I had a big pile of dishes waiting for it. It is AMAZING! It cut my dishes time in HALF! Now I'm actually excited to do the dishes. Hooray for new things that work!