Argentina-The Reunion!

We left for Argentina on Wednesday, Dec. 10th. We spent 3 days in Buenos Aires (more on that later-I'm skipping to the best part!)and then flew to Salta on Saturday afternnon. Salta is where the mission home is for Brennan's mission. Salta is a beautiful city with mountains all around it. We arrived about 7:30pm, rented a car and immediately drove 3 hours to the little town called Embarcacion, where Brennan has been living since September. I think that was the LONGEST 3 hours of the whole 2 years! It was pooring down rain and it was staying on the roads so we couldn't drive very fast....one of the few times when I wished Johnny could drive like he was in Houston! We arrived at his apartment around midnight. Johnny knocked on his door and he was still awake preparing a lesson for church the next day.(He knew we were coming) I stayed behind in the car for a minute and then snuck up and surprised him! It was so fun to see his face and hug him! I cried...of course....and it took me a minute before I could talk. ..and then we laughed !!! That's Brennan, always laughing! I couldn't believe that the time had finally come....wow! It was such a wonderful feeling to see him and be with him again. It was even more wonderful when we got to go to church with him the next day and meet the people he had been serving and teaching.

Make a Smilebox scrap pages

My weekend "hunting widow" project!

It's that time of year.....hunting season! The time of year when your husband wants to spend every spare minute hunting birds, deer, elk what ever is legal to shoot at the moment! It's a love/hate relationship I have with hunting season. I hate it because my husband leaves for a week to deer or elk hunt and the rest of the fall he wants to go to the hunting lease all the time and I love it because I always find a house project I want to work on. Last week as he was packing and scurrying about finding all of his gear, I casually said, "just so you know.....I'm peeling wallpaper while you are gone!" He rolled his eyes and walked out the door! SO....peel wallpaper I DID! for the last 4 days I have peeled wallpaper and I am finally done! My good buddy, Melanie even volunteered her peeling services for a few hours on Saturday! :) Thank goodness for friends like her! Just when I thought I was going to lose my mind she came and peeled and visited and chatted for a bit! She even managed to take some pictures for me so I would have something to blog about! She is good at that....so, thanks to Melanie I am posting my before pictures of the kitchen. (AFTER I peeled wallpaper but BEFORE I have given it the makeover!) Stay tuned.....more pictures to come!

I have a long history of starting these kind of projects when Johnny leaves town! When we were first married and lived in our first little house, I ripped the carpet out of the upstairs and repainted our bedroom! Nothing surprises him anymore!

One cute baby!!

Izzy's new thing is putting on her dad and brothers baseball hats when she finds them laying around! I was able to get a few shots of her one day....she moves fast so it's hard to get good candid pictures of her! I thought these were cute!

Izzy's Birthday Slideshow

Okay....this blogging thing is a constant learning process. I put a bunch of Izzy's birthday pictures to music on a slide show today. (That only took a couple of hours to figure out!) I've just spent the last hour trying to figure out how to upload it from the website. I've done it from a file on my computer before but not one on another website....anyway, I am about to rip my hair out and my neck hurts from being hunched over my computer! So I hope this works! I wanted this to show after my other blog post but I don't know if you can re-arrange your posts....if anyone knows how to do that, let me know! :D

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Izzy's 1st Birthday!!

We celebrated Izzy's birthday over the weekend....it was just us and we had so much fun watching Izzy! I wanted her to have her own personal size cake so I went to this little cake decorating shop and bought two 5 inch rounds and made a little cake. She absolutely loved it!! We finally had to take it away because she just kept eating it! We had to unplug her nostrils a couple of times because chocolate frosting was getting pushed up her nose! Too funny! We let her have some fun with the cake and then Johnny took her in and bathed her while I cleaned up the high chair and floor and then we started part 2 of opening presents! She was so cute....she had fun!

First Day of School!!!

The lazy days of summer are over and it's back to waking up early, making lunches, homework and structure! It's been a crazy summer....we've been to Colorado, Utah, back to Colorado, home and to Destin, FL. Hannah started highschool at Clements and early morning seminary! Abby is the big dog on campus as a 5th grader and Bowen is in the 1st grade. That leaves Izzy and me at home to do our thing....which usually is me following her, the tornado, around the house picking up everything she destroys! She is a one woman wrecking crew right now! I finally got Johnny to put the latches back on all of the cabinets in the kitchen. She doesn't play with toys much right now....she just likes to pull whatever she can out of what ever cabinet or drawer she manages to beat me to! All I have to do is follow the path of destruction to find her! We had our first toilet episode one day when the kids were at school....pictures below!

A day at Bear Lake!

I know! I know! I'm blogging all at once.....take it or leave it! It's a good thing I have my good friend Melanie to bug me about updating my blog or I would probably do it all at once at the end of the year!! I am really good at cramming all at once! Anyway! We spent one day this week up at Bear Lake. The kids and I met my good friend, Lori Busche, and her children up there. They go camping up there several times during the summer and have the whole routine down. They don't have a boat but she has a really nice jet ski that can pull a tube and also a knee board. We had a lot of fun! The kids had so much fun playing on the beach. We finished the day up eating burgers and Bear Lake Raspberry shakes! YUM!

4th of July!

Here are some more pictures from the 4th. Like I said, we had a great time in Oakley and the weather was awesome! The kids loved it! The other girls in the pictures are my sisters youngest 2 girls, Jamie and Emma. The picture on the bottom left is a good picture of the Kamas Valley in the background. Contrary to what some of you may have heard....I am coming home at some point! Johnny is flying back out to drive us home Aug. 1st. I am starting to miss home (and my friends!) but you can't beat this awesome weather in Utah. It's much more favorable than Houston weather! Sorry, but I will NEVER get used to or like the Houston summers!

Izzy meets Lucy!

For the 4th of July we went to my sisters house in Oakely, UT. They live on 5 acres up there in the Kamas Valley. It is so beautiful. Oakley has a great 4th of July parade each year and also a Rodeo. We got to go to both and had so much fun! After the parade we went to my sister and brother-in-law's house to hang out for the day....that is where Izzy met Lucy! Lucy is a 5-6 year old New Finland. She is HUGE! She is probably the size of a large bear cub. She loves kids and is really pretty gentle unless you start to run....then she thinks your playing and she will mow you down! Anyway, we put Izzy in the grass to play and Lucy slowly crawled up to her. She sat down next to Izzy and started licking her toes....then her leg, then her arm until she slowly moved up to her face! She gave Izzy a great BIG LICK! It was so funny and Izzy just sat there pulling her fur and hanging out. She never cried. SO CUTE!

A Piece of Heaven!

We just drove 21 hours to Crested Butte, Co. This is my view off the back porch! Isn't it gorgeous?! I just love the mountains! I look forward to this time every year when we can escape the nasty heat in Houston and head to the mountains! This year we decided to stop in Crested Butte for a couple of days on our way to Utah. We always come to Crested Butte to ski in February and so we decided to check it out in the summer. Johnny & Bowen have had fun riding their bikes all over the bike trails. I am just breathing in the the cool mountain air! Below is a picture of the barn that sits next to the house we stay in. I love the sign they have hanging outside!

Izzy's Boyfriend

I had no idea I would have to start warning Izzy about the boys so soon!! Ha! Ha! I just love these pictures.....babies are so cute when they see someone else their size! This is Izzy trying to kiss Connor. He is Melanie's nephew. We all went swimming Memorial weekend over at Melanie's parents house. The kids had a blast and the parents had fun visiting and swimming. This was Izzy's first time swimming. She LOVES the water!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Wow that is a lot of candles!!! Last weekend I had the best 40th birthday a girl could have!!! My wonderful husband with a little help from my friends (Mel & Rebecca) threw a great surprise party for me! I was soooo SURPRISED! I had no clue! Rebecca hosted it in her back yard with a party tent and all the fixins! What would a party be in Texas without a BIG tent & lots of yummy bar-b-que and humidity! Melanie put together a memorable & fun DVD with pictures and music. It was an enjoyable evening surrounded by our good friends! THANKS GIRLS! I LOVE YOU!

This is my good friend Melanie Karren from Utah. We go waaaaaayyyyyy back! She and her husband John flew down for the party....that was a complete surprise too!! Thanks Mel & John for flying down! I love you guys! Here is a picture of us in Hawaii 2 years ago...our sons Kolby & Brennan are best friends and we took them to Hawaii for their graduation present.

HAPPY 40TH JOHNNY!!!

Okay....so Johnny's birthday was back in January and what do you buy for the guy who has so many toys? Good Question! I didn't have a clue! Johnny had said a while back that he thought it would be fun to go skydiving sometime.... So....I made sure the life insurance was paid up and gave him a gift certificate to go jump! He finally went this weekend with our good friend Matt Francis (who flew in from Utah) and our other friend Jared Rossi. They had a great time. Melanie (Jared's wife) and I loaded up the kids and got out there right before they started falling out of the sky. It was exciting to see them floating out of the air. The kids loved it! I'm glad he had fun....I think I would pee my pants if I jumped out of a plane at 14,000 feet!

More from Argentina!

Brennan sent more pictures in his email this week!!! Mom's live for the pictures and emails each week...it's been a few months since he sent any so I was getting a little irritated. He sent about 20 so that should keep me happy for a day or two! Loved the picture of the goat so I had to share it with all of you. The center picture looks like he has been doing a little service weed eating for someone but took a little break to pose with one of his little friends! He said that he celebrated his birthday with some members who had a daughter having a birthday as well. The next pic is I don't have a clue where! and the last one looks like some nerdy guys all in green ties! CUTE guys!

Top left- he is standing in front a a map of Argentina...I'm not sure where it was taken. He always talks about the little kids down there & how much he loves them. They are all giving the thumbs up sign...not sure why...I'll have to ask Brennan. The next picture is from a recent P-day excursion that took them all day. It's in a place called Cafayate. He said the rocks & mountains are beautiful and it reminded him of Southern Utah. The bottom picture is a place called La Garganta del Diablo or Devils throat, in english.

Take Me out to the Ball Game!!

This is Bowen's first year to play T-ball. Johnny volunteered to be the coach for his team. They are having a lot of fun & Bowen thinks it's pretty cool that his team is the Astros just like our Houston Astros that we go watch at MinuteMaid Park. Before the season started, Bowen & Dad went to Academy Sports to pick out the new cleats, bat bag, bat & glove just like the big guys. He thought he was just too cool!

Elder Brennan Fjord-Argentina, Salta Mission

I finally got our blog up & running with a little help from my friends! (Thank you, Melanie and Leah!) I am having fun learning how to do this blogging thing....I thought I would add a few pictures of Brennan. We miss him soooo much but he is doing really well in Argentina. He is working hard & having fun....two things Brennan does best. He has been out for 14 months now! He has friends that will start to come home April 1st so the time will really fly by now.

Baby Isabelle

This is a video of Izzy that Abby took last night. We had just gotten home and I set her on the floor for a minute...Bowen was sitting in front of her just talking and entertaining her for a minute and all of sudden she started laughing. I turned to see what she was laughing at and Bowen had a couple of small plastic balls from one of her toys and he was simply tossing them into the air in front of her. She started cracking up! This went on for several minutes. This age is so fun....I just love it!

2006 Family Photos

These photos were taken in Utah on our summer vacation in 2006 before Brennan left for his mission and before the beautiful Izzy was born!

Crested Butte, CO

In February, we took a family trip to Crested Butte, Colorado. We went with our good friends Jared & Melanie Rossi and their two girls Sydney & Raegan. Hannah brought her good friend Alexa. We had so much fun and there was so much snow!! The snow was piled as high as the stop signs everywhere. They said it was a 30 year record. The kids just played & played in the snow.