Ready or not here I come

"Ready or not Mom and Dad, I am due September 21. See ya soon!" Says Baby Schwieder

Better Late than Never--Happy Valentines Day!

Brett and I don't like to spend a lot of money for Valentine's Day, so it is always fun to come up with some creative way to say "I love you" without spending any money. This year Brett surprised me by putting little "I love you" notes all over the house. Some in very obvious places...

...the medicine cabinet...

...the dryer door...

...the phone...

...and the microwave. They were all over the house, to this day he says that I still haven't found them all which is fun. Every time I find one it is just another reminder of how wonderful my husband is and how much I love him.

Our stake also did a Valentine's activity that was awesome! They put together a dinner and dance for all the adults in the stake. We have a few professional photographers in the stake and the stake had them take pictures. It was a great night, one that I know Brett and I will remember for a long time.

A splash of color

It was so fun having Brett home for two weeks over the Christmas/New Year's holiday. It was unfortunate that our kids were sick for most of the time so we couldn't go out much but it was great to have him home. However because he was here so much I think the white walls of every room in the house got a little boring for him. Shortly before he went back to school he started suggesting different walls to paint and be accent walls. That surprised me, but I think I surprised him more when I went out and got paint colors and samples and I got started. We were a little daring and painted the "big" wall that extends from the front room all the way into the kitchen a light sage green color.

Of course the picture does not do it justice. But it is beautiful! The other wall that we decided to paint was the living room wall. It is on the front side of out house and has a beautiful big window and the door. We painted this wall the same sage color however it is 3-4 shades darker then the "big" wall.

With the white accents of the blinds and the molding it really looks sharp. It has been amazing to me how much a little color can brighten and change the feeling in the room, I absolutely love what we have done. However we weren't done. We decided to do a whole make over with our living room. We had family pictures and things above the piano and a picture of Christ above the stairs. We have moved the picture of Christ above the piano and we have our family above the stairs.

Sorry about the glare. Anyway, our religious things are going to be above the piano and the family is above the stairs. We have new matching frames and it has given the living room such a nice formal feel. This room has become one of my favorites.

Happy Halloween

We had a little bit of success with our pumpkin this year, which is really surprising because we started it so late. Our pumpkin grew to be about 250-300 pounds, not too bad; hopefully, we will be able to get a bigger one next year.

Markie standing in the pumpkin.

Little James in the pumpkin.

Our whole family dressed up this year, I think that is a first since we had kids. Our two boys were ducks, Brett was a duck hunter, and I was an Idaho fish and wildlife officer. Brett's mom had a Halloween recital/party a couple days before Halloween. We sang a song and had a great time bobbing for donuts.

Brett and Mark bobbing for donuts.

The duck mobile. We went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. After about 15 houses Mark said "I think I have got enough treats, lets go home."
We went home and then later went out to visit the grandparents.

One tired yet satisfied duck!

Happy Halloween!!!

Wood Badge

This post is a little late and I hope I can do it justice. Last month Brett and I went to a 6 day leadership conference/workshop put on by the BSA called Wood Badge. We split up the 6 days over two weekends (thank you Gwen for watching the kids). I was excited to go however, there was also some anxiety because I didn't really know what to expect. Everyone I talked to mentioned making goals, and that I would have the best time ever, there would be moments that I would be laughing hysterically and then there would be other times that tears would be rolling down my face. Now if that doesn't sell something I don't know what does, right? So it was with those feelings I went, and looking back I don't remember when I have had so much fun. It was like I was back at college, I felt like a sponge and I was trying to absorb all the information that they were presenting to us. Brett and I were put in different groups, we saw each other and we were together sometimes but being in different groups I got to be my own person I had to stand on my own feet, I couldn't rely on Brett all the time which was good for me.

The leaders at Wood Badge talked a lot about "tickets" or goals that we needed to make before we left that first weekend. We needed to come up with one big goal and five little goals to help support or help us achieve that one big goal. That scared me more that anything else. It made me look inside, help me to think about me and the things that are most important. I really struggled with this. My whole life I always had the dream to be a wife and mother. I am living that dream on a daily basis, I achieved that dream and I forgot how to dream. It is like a return missionary, they plan their whole lives to go on a mission and then once they have completed that mission they get home and then say "now what?" They have to learn to dream and that can be hard. I shed many tears over my goals, spent a lot of time on my knees asking for guidance, and I was guided. The spirit was so strong while at Wood Badge, even though it is not a church run or sponsored camp the spirit was there, and I was taught by the presenters and most importantly the spirit.

On the last day of Wood Badge, I felt the desire for more, I wanted to stay forever and soak up the feelings that I was experiencing. I was afraid that as I left those feelings and memories would leave. While we were in our last class the staff members were setting up a corridor of American flags that we walked through as we left, the staff members were standing in between the flags saluting us as we left. Rather than a feeling of sadness I felt a feeling of empowerment, a desire to take what I had just experienced and use it in my life and share it with others. Rather than an end Wood Badge became a beginning. I was told that Wood Badge would be a life changing experience, and it has definitely changed my life for the better.

Brett welcoming me into the pack.

Adventures at Antelope Island

The first night at Antelope Island we had a pretty cool looking lightening storm, the unfortunate thing was lightening struck down a mile away from our camp. It was quite a sight to come out of your tent and see a huge fire blazing.

After being evaquated at 9:30 and haveing to pack up the kids really were troopers and did well. Poor James and Mark were so tired they fell asleep in the car while we decided where to stay the night. (I just love how Mark's leg is draped across James).

On Friday, we went to the Hill Air Force Aerospace Museum. Mark and I have always loved airplanes and it was so cool to see all the old bombers and fighters. Mark loves to see the planes fly so we stopped to watch a movie of one of the planes. In the movie the plane is showed being refueled. As Mark was watching the plane being refueled mid-flight he said, "Look Mommy, that airplane brought its baby." That put the biggest smile on my face, kids are so great!

Mark trying on pilot goggles and helmet--they were so big on him he could only look out of one eye piece at a time. Seeing him in this made me think of Star Wars.

James loves being outside and camping for two days and spending a whole day on the Great Salt Lake beach was heaven for him. James was always digging in the dirt, I have never seen a happier/dirtier little boy.

I experienced many firsts this weekend some were good and some were an adventure but these firsts made for an awesome time!!! Thank you Shannalee and Josh for planning such a fun family reunion.

A Villain Among Us

"Wesley Wicked is my name, collecting rent is my game...The James Bond of villains, nobody does it...badder!" Markie and I went backstage before the melodrama to wish Brett luck. When Markie first saw Brett in costume he didn't recognize Brett. His eyes got a big as quarters and he huddled next to me. Brett had to take off his hat in order to convince Markie he was really his daddy.

I definitely saw a different side of Brett during the melodrama that Brett was in, I also realized what great legs he has :)

We are proud of our villainous daddy.