My kids

Kayla just participated in her first primary program. We had just moved into the ward and they were so great about getting her a speaking part. She even memerized her part! (and so did Reia who thinks she needs to do anything her sister does)

The girls are best friends and worst enemies. They are usually best friends, which is nice.

Reia is my "little mom" Kayla was her "little mom" and now she tries to be the "mom" for Brennen. She is a tease and is so giggly and fun right before bed. She is a smart little girl and keeps up with Kayla pretty good. She can say at least three articles of faith by herself (we learn a new one every month and practice it every night). I think she will forever be "my baby" even though she thinks, "I'm a big girl Mommy!"

Brennen is our little buddy. His personality has really come out this week. Kayla has always been a busy girl (and Reia more reserved), but Brennen is my tornado. His favorite thing to do is to empty out drawers and kitchen cabinets and the dishwasher. He is lightning fast. He is becoming quite a tease himself. If I say his name when he does something wrong, he will do it again and giggle. He's only 10 Months! What's it going to be like when he gets older? And what's going to happen when he and Reia get together? Life will never be boring!

Raccoons

Many of you know of the raccoon problem at my in-laws, but some of you don't. There are raccoons in the attic where we live. Above our bedroom is a loft that has a hole in it with access to the attic. Tyrone told me not to worry about the raccoons because they won't venture out into other people's territory. Yeah, right. We can hear the raccoons in the rafters at night, but it never seemed to be a problem. One morning last week I heard someone walking in our room. It was early morning so I just figured it was one of my girls coming in to get me. They didn't say anything so I assumed they layed on the floor and fell asleep. A minute later I heard a growling. I laid there and tried to figure out if it was coming from our room or the ceiling. I then heard it again and woke Tyrone to ask him where he thought it was coming from. He looked on his side of the bed and discovered it was a racoon. We were able to chase it out of the house. We didn't think much of it because Boo Boo (a friendly raccoon) had been missing so we thought it was him. Last Friday, we had a raccoon come in the apartment 4 times. Finally, on the fourth we caught him and called my brother-in-law to come get him (Boo Boo likes their family). That was even okay as long as the hole would get fixed. Well, the whole thing ends with what happened last night. Kayla woke up and yelled "Daddy, I need you " "Daddy!" I of course let him go get her. And of course a few minutes later Brennen starts crying for his nightly feeding. I go in and feed him and a few minutes later Tyrone comes in and tells me that there is a raccoon in our room. I finished feeding Brennen and then went in the girls room to help comfort Kayla because she was still awake (from hearing the raccoons in the roof). Tyrone set up a trap to catch the raccoon and luckily it worked perfectly with not too much resistence from the raccoon. I called my sister-in-law in the morning to make sure it wasn't Boo Boo. It wasn't and she said she would be down to see if it was Ben (a friendly raccoon gone wild). It wasn't! It was one of the wild raccoons!!! I was so greatful that we caught it and no one was hurt in the process. We called animal control and couldn't wait for them to come get it. When animal control got here, he tried to get the raccoon out of the cage (that we had spent at least an hour making sure it was secure), but decided that he would let it go because it was too difficult for him! I was in shock! He had been trying to get it with his pole leash for a while and the raccoon was ticked! I was totally paranoid and had visions of the raccoon coming back for revenge! I shut the door to our bedroom (so if one came out at least they would be trapped) and vowed never to step in there again until that hole was boarded up. I had to leave the house because I couldn't stand to be there and didn't feel safe at all. Tyrone came home that night and fixed the hole. We still cannot believe that after we had carefully and successfully caught a raccoon that the animal control would just let him go. We are searching for ways to be rid of this problem we inherited by moving here and cannot wait until it is resolved!!!

My first blog

I have been wanting to start one of these for the longest time and I finally did it!!! I think blogs are a good way to keep in touch this first one is mainly to see how this works!

Family Update

Many of you are not updated as to what our family is doing. We recently moved into my in-laws while we fix-up our house and hopefully sell it in the fall. It's nice, but it reminds me that I don't like being in an upstairs apartment when it's grocery day. My in-laws are serving a mission in the Dominican Republic. They are doing well. We recently found out that Brennen has to have surgery. His testicle hasn't fallen and they need to find out why and fix whatever problem is causing it (there are a few options). It will be next month and I'm really looking forward to when it's all done. Tyrone is getting closer every day to finishing his Masters thesis. (another day that I look forward to.) Kayla, Reia and Brennen are starting to adjust to living here but they still have their melt-down moments. Life is good and tiring. I'll add pictures as soon as I find the equipment to connect my computer to my camera (just moved you know!)