75 days and counting...

We have a long summer coming up. I hate it too, because we always look forward to summer so much and the fun it brings. But we have some unfinished business we must take care of. Today I dropped Steve off at the airport in SLC for a 2.5 month stint in Stillwater, OK. Why? Well you see we left OSU back in '02 and he had not completed his Masters of Science Degree. The only thing left was the thesis and defense. (I use the term only very loosely :) He was done with research and class work, we were sick of being in school with 2 kids, had another baby (Trace) due in a month and well we were just ready to get on with life. We jumped on the first job offer that came along and left Stillwater, thinking Steve could easily work and write his thesis and get the degree done. Well FF 5.5 years and here we are...wishing we would have completed business when we were there. (Don't you love the whole hindsight 20/20 deal?) We found it impossible to write and work at the same time. But before it's too late, we have a chance to press pause and get it done. So Steve is spending his first night in Stillwater tonight. He has until July 18, to dig up any new research, finish writing, make corrections, defend and publish the research he did in Graduate School. (Honestly I have no idea all the tasks he must get done to get this accomplished. These are all steps I've heard him say he had to get done)

I (we) miss him unbelievably bad. I'm used to short business trips knowing he'll be back in a couple days, a week is the longest he's ever been gone. So this a new experience for me. I have a hard time imagining getting through the next 75 days (yes we're counting!) without him around.

We got to spend a fun few days this past weekend with Steve's sister and family and his parents. The visit seemed like a nice breath of fresh air, we had a wonderful time! Thank you to our families for your love and support in this, we soooo appreciate it.

We put our house up for sale last week before we left for the weekend, as we are not sure what lies ahead of us. We have been looking for places pretty hard the last year, but nothing ever fell into place. We kind of got discouraged over that. Now, I'm kind of getting the picture of why maybe things didn't work out. I'm anxious, nervous yet excited to see what lies ahead of us. I know sacrifices for education will pay off so I'm putting my brave face on and marching forward! My hope is we get to stay here in Twin. We love it here, it feels like home. We have invested allot in this little town and hope to stay. I will say that over the past month (as these events cumulated in the past 3-4 weeks) that I have overwhelmingly felt the Lord's hand directing our lives. We had experiences back in Feb that were precursors to these events. At the time it seemed to have dropped out of nowhere. But I know where it came from. Things have fallen into place and obstacles that could have been insurmountable have leveled out and paved the path for this to happen. I am grateful for the opportunity we have to finish this degree. I am grateful for answers to prayers (we have had many already) and I am grateful for a husband that is willing to do what it takes to get this done. I'll just be so happy when Stephen J. Mayo can put M.S. behind his signature and we are one, happy family together again!

Spring has sprung

Today is that spring day we've all been anxiously waiting for! It's beautiful outside!! We just put our house up for sale and I have been cleaning out, organizing, painting and fixing for a month! Everything seems so bright and nice today (inside and out of the house). A perfect Spring Day! Yay!!! Hope your day is as wonderful.

Spring?

The calendar says spring but it has yet to really feel like it here in Twin. It is freezing cold! Last night Megan had a track meet, when I think of track I think warm sun and sunscreen-not the case last night! But even in the freezing wind Megan ran great. She ran the 100m hurdles, ( I didn't get there in time to see that event) but Megan said she got a bad start and couldn't get her timing right and hit every hurdle. Ouch! Her knees looked abused. But she managed to get 3rd. Then she ran the third leg of the 4x2 relay and her team placed 1st. Then she ran the 400 m and took 1st! Then she ran the anchor leg of the medley relay and again they took 1st! So Megan had 3 1st places and 1 3rd place! They did great. Tomorrow (Sat) Megan is going to an Invitational Track Meet in Boise. The coach could pick 9 girls and Megan says most of the 9 going all played basket ball together all winter, so they should have a fun time. Hopefully the weather will be warmer and they will all be safe! It's kind of hard putting your kid on the bus at 5:45 am and not seeing her again until 8 that night. We may show up in Boise! :)

Here's a video clip of Megan running the 4oom (I've never done this before so I hope it works;)

We were excited for Megan, this is the first time she has taken 1st in this event and it was close! The girl that came in 2nd is a friend of Megan's and Megan says she is always 2nd in practice behind her. So it was fun to see that Megan could take 1st. The other girl is really good too.

Here is Megan running the anchor on the Medley Relay.

Great job Stuart!!!

Chase is on Vacation

We're all a little jealous of Chase's activities this week...His Grandma & Grandpa Mayo are taking Chase and his cousin Rebecca Bangerter on a vacation this week. The tradition started 3 years ago when Grandpa and Grandma took Megan and her cousin Stephanie to San Francisco. So now its Chase and Becca's turn! Saturday April 12, Chase got on a plane here in Twin Falls (all by himself!) and flew to Salt Lake and met up with Grandma, Grandpa & Becca. Then they all flew to Seattle, WA. They spent one night in Seattle (oh and Chase called us that night and said they were in a Limousine and they were going to the hotel and then they were going to rent a boat and go water skiing). Chase doesn't realize we're all jealous enough...he didn't need to embellish the adventures! I told him I think its a little cold to go waterskiing. His reply, "oh no, everyone's doing it up here." I'm still not sure if he was really in a limo or not...but the waterskiing part was far fetched. Anyways, they spent one night in Seattle then got on a Ferry and went to Victoria, Canada. Stayed a few days and last night they called and said they were back on the ferry (had quite the adventure with waves) and would stay in Seattle a few more days. Chase just called and they are going to the Space Needle today! FUN!!! Hopefully Chase is taking lots of pictures.

Chase's plane from Twin to SLC

Megan, Charlee & Trace saying bye Chase

He was escorted to the plane

I was so hoping for a quick look back and wave but nope, he didn't look back! He was ready to get outta town!

Taxiing away

Up, Up...

And Away!!

Have fun Chase & Becca, Thanks Grandma & Grandpa! We Love You All!

Easter

Over due Easter post ;)

Dying Easter Eggs. Chase felt like he was too old to participate :(

Ok, so Trace wanted to act goofy! and I see that Trace's tie is tucked in his belt. On the way home from church, I told the kids I wanted pictures not to undress. Well Trace gets out of the car and is half undressed! Obviously I should have checked him over better when he redressed.

I promised the boys if they would do one good picture they could do a silly one. I'll take this one!

This was the silly one! My girls are so mellow compared to the boys.

Love, Love Love this picture!

Chase 10, Trace 5, Megan 13, Charlee 2 with their Daddy

The kids and mom (I had to hold onto Trace to get him to last through 1 more picture)

Stacy & Steve, married almost 15 years, I can't believe time goes so fast!

5 Blessings I Am Thankful For

The past few days I've been feeling a little stressed and kind of felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Just now as I was cleaning up lunch, I thought "I really am blessed to be able to be home with my kids" so I thought I'm going to make a journal entry on my blessings and that will make the sunshine brighter! So here's 5 of the blessings I am the most thankful for:

1. My husband: He works hard to provide us a good life. He is kind hearted and he is always thinking of other people. He drives a lot with his work and so often he comes home and says I stopped and helped this person with a flat tire, this person was stuck, etc. Other times he will come home and say "I saw this old man trying to push snow, I wanted to stop and help but I was trying to get to a meeting, I should have stopped anyways." He is always helping his clients; pushing cows, burning leaves, unloading a truck load of sheep and saving a lamb from certain death are all recent acts that I can think of off the top of my head he came home and told me about. He so often takes the opportunity to help someone else out. He makes our home fun. He will come home and have alot on his mind but he doesn't for one second let the children know. He goes out of his way to make the kids laugh (sometimes too much;) I couldn't ask for a better dad for our kids. I love you Steve!

2. Being a mother: I am so thankful for my children. Each one of them have so many wonderful qualities. Megan well she is the perfect first child (see post below:) Chase: So tenderhearted. He wants to please and works hard to. Trace my go getter. He is so bright and takes everything in so quickly. I have to stay on my toes with him, I pray that I will have the energy and the wisdom to raise this child. Charlee is my baby doll. She is such a sweet little girl. She brightens my every day and makes me smile. I really am thankful that I have the blessing to be home with my children and take them to school and be there when they come home from school. Thank you Steve for working so hard so I can do this.

3. Family and eternal ties: I am so thankful for our families. I have the best mom and dad ever and I am so blessed to have just as wonderful in laws. I am thankful for great brothers and sisters, mine as well as Steve's. I am thankful for all of our nieces and nephews. I love that even though we have always lived apart, cousins are always so excited to see and play with and love each other. I am thankful for good parents and grandparents that taught us the gospel and raised us in homes full of love.

4. The gospel of Jesus Christ: We recently lost Steve's grandmother. Grandma Lena Mayo was 98 years old and passed away on April 4, 2008. I am so thankful to know that life continues after this one and we have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ that have a marvelous plan for each one of us. I am thankful for the knowledge that we will once again see Grandma's and Grandpa's that have gotten old and moved on from this earthly life. When little Trace asks me "when will Grandpa Berry come to life again like Jesus did?", I smile inside because even at 4 yrs old, he knew that a year ago when Grandpa Berry died and he saw him lying in the casket that Grandpa Berry really wasn't there and that he will live once again like Jesus. How blessed I feel to be able to teach my children the sweet gospel of Jesus Christ.

5. Good Health: Filling this lost spot is a tough one, I have so many blessings. But I am very thankful for good health. I am so thankful for medical science and dr's that have devoted their lives to finding medicines that cure and protect us. My husband, my children and myself all are all healthy and that is a tremendous blessing.

Sorry this post is kind of personal, but writing it all down sure made me feel better. I can now focus on the good things in life and know that the little things will fall into place. Back to cleaning my house (another great blessing--having a house to clean :)

Megan, our wonder daughter!

So last month I helped Megan complete a huge school project. She did essentially a memory book/scrapbook/autobiography. It is quite the project and she took it to the next level (as she does all of her tasks) she got a 119% on the project! But as we were looking through pictures I couldn't believe how fast everyone is growing up. I was simply amazed at how big my kids are now. Particularly Megan, she is growing up into such a wonderful young lady. Today I'm going to brag on my Megan :-)

Megan 3 wks old

This is her favorite teddy bear. Steve brought it to the hospital the day after she was born. Hard to believe she was once smaller than that bear. Especially now that she is 3 inches taller than her mom! Megan has always been an easy child. She is very independent, she does her own thing and has since she was a little baby. She'd rather be put in her crib and left alone than rocked. Megan has a great bond with her daddy. Steve wanted a little boy first so bad, but he has said since the minute Megan was born, that having a little girl first made him a better dad. (He is a great dad)

Megan 8mos bonding w/ her daddy

Megan is so talented. Her activities keep us very busy:) She is a swimmer, she has swam on the summer swim league for 5 summers now. Every summer she places better than the previous. Last summer she placed 3rd overall out of 60 11-12 year old girls! She was amazing, (1st is her goal this summer). She loves to play soccer and has one amazing corner kick! She's not playing spring soccer because the jr high doesn't have a soccer team so she is running track instead of playing in the city soccer league. This is the first year in years we aren't on the soccer field! She started taking piano lessons when she was 8 and her talent shines through there. She is so amazing...I feel bad, she only has a keyboard to practice on and she still keeps at it and keeps improving. I have never once had to get onto her to practice, she does it all on her own! She participated in a National Federation Junior Festival last month and received a "Superior" Rating! Our goal is to get her a piano as soon as possible! She has a love for basketball. She made the 7th grade team this year and played on a traveling league through the winter (they just had their last tournament las wknd) She is continually improving her skills with that game. Hopefully she will practice all summer and get even better if she wants to continue down that road. As I said before, she is running track, she has been placed as both a sprinter and distance runner and high jump. I'm excited for her first track meet to see how she does. Megan is an excellent student and works hard to maintain her 4.0. She does hours of homework every night.

Megan 1st day of Kindergarten Aug '01

Megan sets high goals for herself, both temporally and spiritually. Megan's goal is to become a Dr. She has stated this for years. Recently she has narrowed the field to Radiologist. I know Megan has the drive and the ability to accomplish anything she puts her mind to. Megan is very loyal and has a great personality. She makes life fun. She definately has her dad's sense of humor. I could go on and on about Megan but I will stop now and post a few of my favorite pics of Megan's school years that I came across on my trip down memory lane. Megs, I love you and I am very proud of all you do. I love being on the sidelines cheering you on, whether it be by the pool, soccer field, basketball court, track, piano, church, school or life. Good job, sweetie! You add the sparkle to my golden thread of life :)

Megan 7th grade

The following pics are first days of school pics. Its fun to see the changes year to year. Cheers to the first days of school and the hope and anticipation each one brings ;)

Megan pre-K (We lived in OK and they start 4 yr olds in public school in pre-k)

Kindergarten '00-'01

1st grade '01-'02

'02-'03 Chase pre-k Megan 2nd grade (this was 3 mos before we moved from Stillwater, OK to Idaho) I was amazed how little they were when we moved to Idaho!

'03-'04 3rd grade we had just moved to Twin Falls

'04-'05 Megan 4th grade, Chase 1st grade

'05-'06 Megan 5th grade. This was the day before her little sister Charlee was born. Megan wanted a little sister so bad. I remember her saying I will share a room with her! She sometimes wants to recant on that statement but she is a great big sister and her and Charlee are best friends! Charlee is one lucky gal to have a big sister like Megan.

'06-'07 Megan 6th grade, Chase 3rd grade (Trace 3 and Charlee 1yr)

And that brings us to this year...I don't know what happened but I did not get 1st day of school pictures last fall. I was so upset. I love those pics! But here's a cute one on her birthday!

Megan's 13th birthday!

Thanks for joining me on my walk down memory lane...time flies enjoy every second! Elder Ballards Sunday afternoon conference talk rang so true to me. I have to start enjoying the moment and stop worrying about getting the next task done!