Trick or Treat

Jaylee trying to find her way out of her costume

Faith loved passing out the candy to trick or treaters

Ronnie feeling the Halloween spirit

we started the night off with our traditional soup bread bowls that look like pumpkins. Filled with yummy potato soup and chili

Faith on her way to her preschool Halloween party

Faith having fun at Trunk or Treat last week

TEN YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION & more...

Our senior year book photos...think we've changed?


10th grade valentines dance
a quick photo before we left. My hubby is still one HOT BABE!
Schenpf Farms
Faith & Chance



This weekend was mine and Ronnie's ten year High school reunion. After MUCH deliberation I am really glad that we decided to go. It was fun to see how people have changed and how some people will never change. I won a three day two night trip in the raffle drawing, talk about my lucky night!

We also went to Schnepf farms and had a not so great time (both of the girls are sick). We cut it short after a long two hours.

Faith and her cousin Chance had their primary program today. Ronnie taught Faith how to lip sink before we left for church, thanks Ronnie! Faith sure is good at an EXAGERATED lip sink:)

I also checked out the new mall this weekend. I cant wait to go back. The atmosphere and stores are awesome! It will be my new favorite spot (at least six months out of the year). The new mall is outdoors. You gotta go!

missing post

I was playing around on my dashboard and accidentally erased my Wedding Tag post:( I would post it again but I still wouldn't have all of your nice comments. I keep telling myself that I need to print as I blog and put it in a binder. I am terrible about keeping a journal and so I consider this as my journal.

Beautiful Scenery

We all got a kick out of seeing these cowboys round up their cattle.

We left Thursday night for "little red" because Ronnie had a turkey tag. We were just up there two weeks ago and the landscape has completely changed. It is always beautiful there but this time the leaves on the Aspens had changed to gold and were starting to fall from the trees. Ronnie shot his turkey early Friday morning so we had the rest of the weekend to do whatever:) Saturday night my cousin Shanna who lives in Show Low had us over for a family BBQ. What a great party!

Pay It Forward

Friday night Ronnie, the kids, & I ate dinner at San Tan Flats with my aunt and my grandparents. I have been there once before but only inside. This time we ate outside & it is the coolest place! It has a stage with a live band and little fire pits all around where kids were roasting marshmallows. Now that the weather has cooled off I can see us eating there a lot!
Saturday while checking out at Costco I found out that my membership card was expired. That was an ordeal, trying to get a manager to let me go ahead & make my purchase. I went straight from Costco to Walmart for some more groceries. After walmart I pulled into the chickfila drive through, after sitting there forever I decided to drive to the chickfila on Power & Ray instead. Once I got to the window to pay I couldn't find my wallet. Yep, I left it at Walmart, the worst place in the world to loose your wallet. I drove insanely fast back to walmart, running a red arrow & turning right on a, no turn on red, all the while thinking about my debit card, our business credit card and gas card, temple recommend, gift cards to Dillard's and Express a receipt to BabiesRus for a expensive return I haven't made yet, how Ronnie was going to tease me....my whole life seams to be in my wallet. I pealed into the parking lot where I found my shopping cart right where I had left it but NO wallet. I jumped back into my Tahoe & pealed into a handicapped space. As I was looking at the $100 fine & the handicap sign I thought "I am the last person who deserves to get my wallet back." I grabbed Faith & sprinted into walmart. Somebody had turned my wallet in! I really think that had my wallet not been there I would have burst into tears. Immediately I wished they could announce over the loud speaker a BIG THANK YOU from me. Unfortunately they don't do things like that. I will never be able to thank that person but I can PAY IT FORWARD by being honest myself and serving others.
It turned out to be a great Saturday because after that Ronnie & I got to go on a well OVERDUE date. I cant remember the last time we went out but I know it was sometime before May. I had my first babysitter ever! A girl in our ward watched our kids while we went to dinner & a movie. I was so nervous (hence why I have never had a sitter over before) I only called her three times in the 4 1/2 hours that we were gone. I don't know what I was worried about because Faith had a blast & Jaylee was sound asleep when we got home. Ronnie & I saw Game Plan, it was such a funny movie & fun to watch the ROCK, hehe:)
Conference weekends are always special too! I remember as a kid I thought conference was SOOoo boring but now as an adult I sincerely enjoy the talks, they are so uplifting. There is also something about hearing conference throughout the house & smelling something good baking in the oven that reminds me of being a kid & I love recreating it in my own home. After conference today I had my family over for dinner.
A crazy but lovely weekend at home.

P.S. I got the coolest pumpkins at Sprouts this weekend. I call them "vintage pumpkins" and I cant wait to decorate with them!

Southwest Art Museum Field Trip

Yesterday Ronnie went with Faith on her school field trip to the Southwest Art Museum in Mesa. They had fun looking at dinosaur fossils and at the live dinosaur replicas. Faith got to pan for gold and Ronnie spoiled her at the museum gift shop!

MY FIRST BIRTHDAY!

Today is Jaylee's first birthday! Jaylee has three teeth, two bottom and one top. She's not walking yet, but that's alright:) She can say "more" and do the sign in sign language. She says "mama" and "dada","hi", and "bye bye". Although these words have all taken a back seat for her new FAVORITE word, "what". Jaylee has been a breeze, she has slept through the night since I brought her home. She is so easy going and has the best temperment. Jaylee is a picker eater, she will not drink any kind of juice and hates fruit. I just barley got her to start eating some apple sauce, I guess she will love her veggies like me:)Jaylee loves giving hugs! She has the darkest brown eyes I have ever seen and these long lashes that curl. There is something so special about her! She has definitely stole my heart. Happy Birthday Jay Bird!

TIME OUT FOR WOMEN

This weekend I went to Time Out For Women with my two aunts and my mother in law. When I saw that Michael McLean would be the host this year I KNEW I had to go. I have loved his music since I saw my fist Forgotten Carols when I was in high school. Ronnie gets a little annoyed that we listen to Christmas music year round but there is something about his music that just speaks to me. My cousin Jenny took a picture of me and Michael McLean! Cool cool! I saw people from my ward, people from high school, friends and family there!
There was such awesome talent. Great speakers and singers. Jason Deere has written songs for LeAnn Rimes, Jessica Simpson,SheDAISY and Rubberband. This man can sing himself! Jenny Frogley was wonderful! Merrilee Boyack was hilarious! She talked on marraige and lets just say I will be at Deseret bookstore very soon buying both of her books, Strangling Your Husband Is Not An Option and The Parenting Breakthrough. Dean Hughes is married to the prophet President Hinckley's daughter. Can you imagine...to be apart of that family?
I am SOOOoo glad that I went! I know I was MEANT to be there! I laughed hard and cried hard and feel recharged!

Soup Nazi

At the old stone chapel on main street in Snowflake is a monument. Here is a picture of Faith and Jaylee with my grandpa Merl. They are standing beside my grandpa's grandfather, Jesse N. Smith. Jesse N. Smith helped settle Snowflake and was also a 1st cousin to the prophet Joseph Smith.


Ronnie left last Wednesday to go hunting possibly until the 28th depending on when they get something. That's a total of 16 days! I am only on day 6 and things are going ok so far. This last weekend my family went up to the homestead so the kids and I were able to get out of town for the weekend, which helps the time go by faster. Saturday we spent half of the day in Snowflake. I love this town, it is so steeped with family history (on both my mother and fathers side). I used to spend my summers with my mom there when I was a kid. The second half of the day we spent in Show Low, we had a little lunch picnic (sonic) at the city park and let the kiddos run around. That night we all went to Pinetop and ate at the Pasta House. I had originally heard about this place from Allison and then later from several others. Ronnie and I had tried a couple of times to get in and never could. The owner of the restaurant is just like the Soup Nazi from the sitcom Seinfeld. I am a huge fan of the show and I have even seen Jerry perform his stand up live. Anyhow it was fun to eat there and it was delish too! Wouldn't recommend taking children though. They don't own a highchair so I had to hold Jaylee the entire time. Oh and don't take your cell phone in because she will throw you out, ban you from her restaurant and call the police. No joke. You have to try it! I had a great weekend!

IT WASN'T ME!

I have my TV room blocked off with gates and child proofed. It was a little too quiet so I went to see what Jaylee was up to. I found her standing in a puddle at the water cooler. (1)she learned how to escape around my gates (2) she now knows about the water cooler and how much fun it can be:)

BACK TO SCHOOL

Yesterday was Faiths first day back to preschool. This is her second year going to the same preschool. She loves going and I love that she loves it! Faiths cousin Kiley got to come over and play for a little while before she had to go to kindergarten. After I picked up Faith from preschool we picked up Chance from his school and headed to Gilbert because Faith has dance on Tuesdays. Faith dances with Vanessa Gissel (the best dance teacher in the world for little dancers)! It was a busy but very FUN day yesterday! I love busy fun days!

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Thursday we left for "Little Red". Every year on Labor Day weekend Ronnie's family has their annual "Longhurst Family Reunion". They camp-out near Greens Peak which luckily is right around the corner from our little cabin so we don't have to rough it too much. Also my entire family goes to the Homestead which is also right around the corner. We were able to split our time between both places and really had a great weekend. Faith especially, had a blast with ALL of her cute cousins. Even Jaylee enjoyed exploring the outdoors. I got to spend Saturday evening shopping and eating dinner with my little sis who lives in Show Low. Sunday my cousin Chads wife Ashley, (who is an amazing photographer) after several months of trying to coordinate a time that we would both be at the Homestead was able to take our family pictures. I am so excited to see them! Thank you Ashley! Yesterday on the way home I got to stop on the side of the road and buy some roasted green chili's from Hatch New Mexico! Yum yum, cant wait to make and eat homemade green chili this week:)
P.S. Ronnie had the camera and video camera all weekend trying to capture a shot of a record breaking Elk (do you sense the sarcasm) :) I stole the camera and snapped these two pictures before we came home yesterday.

FAITHS 1ST DADDY DAUGHTER HUNTING TRIP

My little Faithy then & now


Friday Ronnie and Faith went to "Little Red" for the weekend, just the two of them. I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers that Faith would make it back in one piece. I still haven't gotten over me coming home from work when Faith was only three months old and finding her home ALONE! That's right, not a typo, Ronnie left our baby home alone.(Sorry Ronnie) Anyhow, this was their first alone trip together and yes she is home safe and sound tonight. Few! This was a much needed trip for Faith, from the very beginning Faith has been a daddy's girl! From what I hear they had a great time visiting with my sister and her two little kids in Show Low, riding on our Ranger, eating all our favorite restaurants, hunting today with Jesse and his little boy Colby and even shooting a coyote! I enjoyed a little quiet time and ran some errands that I have put off for months because its too hard dragging two kids around.

MY FIRST PONYTAIL

Monday was an exciting day, I was finally able to squeeze some hair into a rubber band and Jaylee got to sport her first little ponytail! Yeah! Last night I was standing at the sink doing the dishes and I see Faith run by me with one of her brushes from her beauty shop set and its dripping wet. I follow her to the toy room to see what mess I have in store for me. There I find our cute little Jay Bird with the worst forward comb ever! Faith says "isn't she beautiful mom"? I ran for my camera because it was too funny.

BABY OF MINE

About three weeks ago Ronnie bought out his partners half of the landscaping company. Now we are the sole owners of Supercuts Landscaping. Along with that I have become the sole accountant for a 25 employee company which entails a lot of hours in the office on the computer. In my defense though, it really wasn't that late. It was only 7:30pm and I was trying to get her to hold out until 8:00pm so she wouldn't wake up a few hours later or wake up super early in the morning. When Ronnie and I turned around from the computer to find her passed out on her saucer and milk dripping down her face it made me feel SOooo guilty. Partly because I feel like this is the result of a stressful couple of weeks and I think everybody in our house feels the way Jaylee looks. Lately I find myself wishing for more hours in the day to spend QUALITY time with my kids and my hubby(who is ALWAYS working). If only....

YOU FIND OUT WHO YOUR FREINDS ARE

Call me crazy....another post about music...but I cant help it. I was driving home alone tonight (which means I can blast my radio) and this song came on. I came home and played it for Ronnie and asked him what it reminded him of? And we both agreed... THANK YOU RON & LYDIA and CHRIS & BAILEY for all your SUPPORT with our business endeavors! This song is for you

TAG...IM IT

My Junior and Senior year I started to rebel against my parents and my church. I was wild and participating in things that absolutely were against everything I had been taught. Looking back now I realize I wasn't only rebellious in my actions but also in my heart and without any particular cause. Towards the end of my senior year I really started to slip into a deep depression. I attribute this to the lack of the holly ghost and also immense guilt.
During this time In my life I really started to pray. I prayed for months and months for some relief from my depression and guilt. One day I had stayed home from school and I was home alone. I was in my bed and praying harder than I had ever prayed in my entire life. I felt hopeless and I was doubting that there was any value to my life. I can honestly say that this was one of the three darkest days of my life. Then an answer to my prayers came. There was a knock on my door. When I answered the door there stood my bishop (bishop Flaherty). He explained to me that he had passed by my house on the way to his own home and that something had told him to turn his car around and knock on our door. He said that he felt funny and didn't know why he was there, but there he was. Wow. I just stood there in tears and disbelief for a minute. I asked him to come in and I explained how I had been feeling for the last several months. I told him that when he knocked on my door I had been praying for any reason at all to keeping living.
I have always heard how people have there own personal confirmation of the scriptures or of their testimonies. I never believed I could be worthy of one of my own especially during that time in my life, nor was I looking for any confirmations. That day I gained an undeniable testimony of the power of prayer. I learned that Heavenly Father hears prayers, any ones and every ones and does answer them. I also gained a testimony of our church leaders. Had my bishop not been in tune with the spirit and inspired to knock on my door that day, I would have forever missed out on this vital testimony. Not only did I gain those two important confirmations, through my bishops help I was able to put my life back in the right direction.
In the last ten years prayer has seen me through some extremely tough trials in my life. Sometimes the answer to my prayers are not as obvious as my bishop knocking on my front door but my personal testimony of prayer always reminds me that my heavenly father is listening.
When Ashleigh tagged me I thought and thought about a cute or funny story and I just couldn't think of any that I hadn't already shared or that were worth sharing. I hesitated to share this story only because I wouldn't want to take away the reverence in it by posting it on my blog. However now that I am done writing about it I am glad. Ronnie and I are making some crucial decisions with his landscaping company right now and I really needed this reminder. Thank you for letting me share. I tag Bailey & Lydia. Check Ashleigh's blog for directions

BIG party at "Little Red"

Aunt Coleen crawling into the entrance of Harris Caves

intire group after exploring the caves...and yes the dog went in too

bet you didn't know Faith had a big sister! Faith & (twin cousin) Sadie at the Homestead. Enlarge picture, too crazy

Uncle Chris teaching Faith how to ride a REAL 4 wheeler all by herself

Faith having a blast..... mom having anxiety attack

Chance, Me, Jaylee, Faith & Aunt Coleen

Jaylee playing with butterfly

Ronnie loving on Faith before we sent her back home with Aunt Coleen a day early because she was sick:(

What a fun weekend! We left Thursday night with our four nephews who live in Utah for "Little Red". We went up for Ronnie's cousins wedding reception in Show Low Friday night. Saturday was such a blast. There was 30 of us (all family) who met at "Little Red" to ride 4 wheelers. We road to Harris Caves which was only about 5 minutes away from our cabin. Harris Caves are actually underground taverns. You have to crawl through a little space and then eventually it opened up into a big muddy underground cave. Most everyone went in (not me) and had a great time. Later that night we went to Show Low for a fun double date with Gerald and Allison (and Jason). We ate Japanese food and went to the movies. We saw License to Wed. I laughed too hard it was too funny! Thanks for the babysitter guys and the great night out!

P.S. Just had to add...I love this song, it just describes how we feel about our life. Every time we leave our little slice of heaven we just come home so grateful for everything we have. Including our family and great friends. I really appreciate all of you who are so wonderful to our kids. Thanks Penny, Whitney & Shane for treating my kids like your own fam. To Uncle Chris and Aunt Bailey and to my Aunt for bringing Faith home and aiding her! Thanks to my little sis for saving our lives Thursday night! Thanks we really are lucky!

Random Cali Pics

Back to the real world....Well we got home Sunday evening and I was hit with a blast of reality when I stepped out of my Tahoe and my feet and legs started burning from the heat off the asphalt. It has been none stop since then, with family birthday parties, doctors appointments, dirty cloths and unpacking. Thank you grandma and Aunt Coleen for coming over Sunday night and helping me hang up cloths for several hours!I am so grateful that we were able to vacation for so long in San Diego this summer. Ronnie works so hard, long and late hours in our home office that it was WONDERFUL to spend so much time together. Faith will surely miss all the time together and Jaylee went from crying when Ronnie picked her up to crying when he doesnt pick her up. We had such a great time that we rented our condo for a month again next June. I sure will miss eating french fries at the fry shop, rolled tacos at Taco Surf, the beach and playing in the sand with my feet. The way I look at it is this...I only have to live here 11 more months.