Our Family in 2010!

Sadie is 9 and in the fourth grade. She is an excellent student and a good friend to all who know her. Sadie is an avid reader and seems to always have a book in her hand. She is also very talented. She has started making jewelry this year and she is very good at it. It is rare to see her without some kind of necklace, earrings or a bracelet that matches what she is wearing. Sadie is also very talented on the stage. She is a great little actress and, might I say, she shines on stage! Her singing voice has also blossomed as she has had many opportunities in plays to sing and is currently in our ward choir and school choir, with a solo/duet. We are so proud of her and could not do without all her help and service as well as her keen and sensitive spirit. (She always knows when someone needs a hug or attention). We are so grateful to have her in our family.

Porter just turned 8 in January and is in 2nd grade. He loves PE and is very good at math and spelling. Porter loves to have fun, make people laugh and is full of energy. He, like his older sis, is also very creative. Porter loves to build things, and take things apart to see how they work. He questions everything and wants to know why and how everything works, in all aspects of his life. We found at a young age, that Porter is good at everything! There are very few things in his life that he has tried and enjoyed that he has not excelled in. Porter is good at all sports that he tries but loves to play soccer, ride his bike and scooter and play catch with his dad. Porter also loves to play video games with his dad when he has earned them. He is a great asset to our family and has the potential to be a great leader. We are grateful for him and his outgoing and inquisitive spirit in our home!

Aubrey is 6 currently and is in Kindergarten. She loves to learn new things and is really enjoying her first year at the "BIG" school. She is becoming a good little reader already and is very quick to make friends. She is tiny and very lovable. She has already had a boy in her class ask her to marry him. YIKES! Aubrey is very good at sharing and helping others, including me. She also enjoys doing little acts of service around the house for others to find later. She is very independent and often asks if she can make lunch for her and Kailey. Aubrey loves to play games and has been called the "Skip-bo" queen, on several occasions at our house. She is also a sweet big sister and is very cute with Kailey. We love our little Aubrey and her giving and loving spirit. She is a blessing in our home.

Kailey is 2 and will turn 3 in September. She is a funny little duck that is able to melt any of the rest of us with her giggles and smile. She also, somehow has the power to magically end a fight that two of her older sibling might be having, just by smiling at them or giving a little hug. She is becoming a good, little talker and always has a mouth full to say that never seems to come out quite as quickly as she would like. Kailey is also very independent and wants to do EVERYTHING by herself. "Me do it", is a very common phrase I have come to know and expect to hear at least 10 times a day.:) She is also a good little friend and plays very well with older kids. Some of Kailey's favorite things to do, besides play with her siblings are: playing Barbi, hide-and-seek, pretend and dress-up. (When we are at home, she generally has some sort of dress-up skirt over whatever she is wearing that day, so she can spin). Kailey has a happy and independent little spirit that we count as a blessing in our home.

We love our little, family and the time that we spend together. All of us count "family time" as one of our TOP favorite things to do! Some of our favorite things to do togeter are: things like games night, movie night, park time, hikes, exporing somewhere, camping, or just hanging out together.

Porter's Baptism!

Jason Porter Giles is 8!!

We are so proud of Porter and his decision to be baptized. He was baptized a member of the church on February 6, 2010 in the Herriman 1st ward. We were very happy to have so many family members there including 1 grandparent from each set. Grandpa Giles came from Salt Lake and stood in as one of the witnesses and in the circle and Grandma T and Grandmama Balthrop came from Arizona for the occasion and gave the talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost. Everything was beautifully done and I felt like Porter felt the spirit there. during the few days before and a few days that followed his baptism, we enjoyed lots of time with family and enjoyed having Grandma T and Grandmama Balthrop stay and spend some time.

Time with Grandma T.

New set of Scriptures!

Time Goes By

I can never believe how fast time goes by. Why is it, that I can never believe it because I often find myself in this exact situation, not believing it all over again. Don't you think I would get it by now that it is not going to slow down anytime soon? I know that doesn't make since but it is a question I send out into the void.

Again I find myself with catching up to do. For starters, I think the kids are starting to come to the realization that their dad is leaving. I can tell when they are getting tons of attention from us but a few are starting to act out in different ways that they normally don't. I know the Lord will bless us in this decision because we made it through him but I think this year may be a little more trying then I am wanting it to be. Meanwhile, Jason is done with one of his 2 jobs and is only working part time for this month and off for the first few weeks in April. we are excited for the family time and are planning a fun, warm vacation for part of the time as a little surprise for the kids. I so love dong surprises!!:) I will update as time permits and as my computer gets fixed so that I can download some pictures.

Okay, Here Goes...

So my all time, favorite Christmas movie is "White Christmas". Probably because it incorporates great singing, dancing, acting and I have been watching it every year for 20 or so years. Anyway, this year I was anxious to watch it again because it holds a bit of a different meaning to me. What I mean by that is, for those of you who are not familiar, it is about a couple of pals from the army. Okay, okay, okay, so the reason that relates to our big news is that, no, I am not PREGNANT (which has nothing to do with that show anyway) but, ...Jason is joining the ARMY! He will be signing on Monday for a 3 year term. (If you have dropped your jaw and are wondering why in the heck we would do such a thing), don't worry, we are really excited for this next adventure. Though I am sure there will be some rough times ahead, we feel this is a good direction for us at this time. For whatever reason, we also feel that Heavenly Father needs us to do this, and of course, that clinches it for me.:)

Our next step is Jason going to an intensive training in a few months to become a Human Intelligence Collector for the Army, so don't be surprised if the FBI comes knocking on your door this next year and asks questions about my husband. (They will need to do that in order to grant him the clearance that he needs for this job).

At this point, we don't know how long we will be enlisted but we will take it as it comes. I will continue to update my blog in order to keep in touch. Please keep us in your prayers!!

Changes Coming!!

Okay so we moved the first week in November and are currently renting a place wihin walking distance from the kid's school. We are really enjoying the area and loving the new ward. The kids are all doing well with the change as all of us are getting ready for some much bigger changes coming up this year. Some of you already know but I am going to have to hold the surprise from the rest of you until it's official!:) All I can say is that we have some big changes coming that we have prayed about and are excited for.

Blessings!

I would have to say that one of my favorite things is seeing all the blessings in my life. It is amazing to me how many small and simple blessings we are given everyday. One of our recent blessings was having the opportunity to take out family to stake conference at the conference center to listen to the prophet speak. it was a great conference focused on the importance of regular temple attendance and serving those who need us.

Another recent blessing was finding a place to live since we sold our house quicker that we had planned. That has been a huge stress for me the past few weeks but we have found a place for the mean time that we feel really good about.

The last blessing I will mention is the sale of our home. We felt that it was something we needed to do for many reasons but it is kind of exciting to know that we will soon be open to do whatever and go wherever the Lord needs us to go. These times are so fun and exciting!

We're Moving!!

Well, I guess we are supposed to move. We put our house up for sale last Wednesday and had 7+ offers on it by Monday. I am not kidding, it has been a bit of a crazy week. We are currently looking for someplace to rent right now until we figure out the job situation instead of rushing into buying another home. At this point, our options are wide open though we are looking for something in the Western states. Yes, Arizona pals, we are considering moving back there. We are not sure at this point but we are planning to stay here and rent for a while until things become a bit more clear. This is all a little crazy and a bit sudden but we are up for it and know we have been so blessed and directed to this point.