Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 5th Wedding Anniversary! I can't believe that it has been 5 years since we got married. We now have two beautiful girls! We enjoy being married. This past year has actually been great! I think we are finally understanding each other! I can't believe it took 5 years, but I guess that is what you get when you only know each other a year before you get married.

Things I love about Clay:
1. He is my best friend! I have never had a best friend (very good friends, but never that one best friend)! I can safely say that Clay is definitely my best friend.
2. I love that he makes me laugh!
3. I love when he watches chick flick movies with me... (and cries :)
4. I love that he gives me everything that I need and want! He is a good provider for our family and is supportive of the decision we have made for me to stay home.
5. I love how forgiving he is! This is VERY important in marriage!
6. I love when he plays with our girls and makes them laugh! It is a joy to see him so close to them!
7. I love that he loves me for me! I have things I need to improve and he loves me through them!
8. I love that he is a faithful and worthy priesthood holder! He amazes me with his testimony and love for our Savior!
9. I love that he gives me WONDERFUL back massages! They are the best especially when I am sore from working out!
10. Most of all, I LOVE that he is an EXAMPLE to me. He makes me want to be a better person! He is my hero and my life.

Clay...I am so proud to be married to you! I love you very much. Thank you for making me a part of your family 5 years ago. It has been a tough road, but I know that it can only get better for us! Thank you for loving me and being an example to me! Thank you for being the BEST Daddy ever to our beautiful daughters. They love you so much! I am so thankful to you for all that you do for our family! Love, Amber Lee

Now that the mushy stuff is over it is time for me to head out the door. With NO kids we have decided to go to San Antonio for the weekend!!! Yeah...temple session in the morning, massages after that, and a day at Schlitterban Water park!

OLD NAVY 50% off already 50% off clearance!

I KNOW I need to post about our trip to Colorado. There is just so much going on! I will say that we had a great time and hopefully I will able to post and write about it in more detail soon! We got the piano loaded in the house last night! I can't wait to take my first piano lesson tomorrow! Who knows maybe in a year from now I can actually play in church!

I went to Old Navy yesterday and they are having 50% off their already low marked down clearance prices. Spent about $120 for $400 maybe more worth of clothes! The girls didn't need clothes so I just bought larger sizes and will use them for Christmas and for birthdays next year! As for me...well I bought some clothes that I can wear now! (Oh and don't feel bad for Clay...he got a few things. The men's selection wasn't as great as the womens!) Go check it out if you get a chance. It was a great deal!! I literally bought some stuff for .97!

Yesterday...a day from you know where!

Today is the day for our Colorado trip! Am I packed? No! And I still find myself at the computer blogging. Call me crazy We don't leave until tonight. I am such a procrastinator though. My two year old is driving me crazy as well. Yesterday was NOT a good day. Hence the reason why I am still not packed. I put Mady down for a nap as soon as we got home from the doctor and thought she was sleeping. I went in there an hour later and she has poop every where! I thought that she was out of that stage. Apparently NOT! She is ready to be potty trained, but I have been delaying it because of our Colorado trip. I guess after this week it is time I got myself into gear. Then after that I put the girls on my bed to watch Wall E so I could go mow the lawn. Well, that wasn't a good idea either because when I came back Madyson had gotten a hold of some wild flower seeds and spilled them all over my bed. I am going crazy by this point!!! To top it all off. The girls would not go to sleep last night. They played in there room until 10:00 last night. I went in there 5 times. Finally Clay put Madyson in the office in the pack n' play. She did not like it, but you do what you have to do, right? Needless to say, I am looking forward to our vacation to Colorado and the girls going to Dallas for a week after that! I think I am going to make the girls an outfit while they are gone. I found a really cute pattern last night at Walmart. It says it is easy...how hard can it really be? I think I will stay off the computer for the next week...afterall I am on VACATION!

sick AGAIN!

I can't believe I am almost at 100 posts. That is amazing for me even though it took me over a year to accomplish that! Elyse isn't feeling well AGAIN! We went to the doctor and she had a little bit of a red throat so they gave her antibiotics.I am glad they did because we leave for Colorado tomorrow and I don't want her to be sick the whole time. I am also not feeling well...UTI. I haven't had one since before Madyson was born. Clay will be calling his grandpa sometime soon so I can get some medicine before we leave. The drive will be MISERABLE if I don't.
We had a really good FHE last night on Tithing. Elyse started doing chores around the house for $1 a week. I know we are cheap. We traded her last night for 10 dimes so we could explain how tithing works. I think she understood. We will see next week how well she remembers. She is saving her money to buy a movie. We told her if she saved half we would help her with the other half. We are also having her put 20% into her piggy bank as well.
Madyson is as cute as can be! She has been in a stage where she doesn't like her hair being done, but since we have come back from Dallas visiting Granpa and Grandma she will let us put pig tails in her hair! She is so cute. The next time I do her hair like that I will post a picture.
We are really looking forward to our Colorado trip...not the drive though! We are doing it at night so that the girls will sleep in the car. The only problem with that is they are going to want to be awak on Thursday when Clay and i want to sleep. Oh well. I look forward to going to Colorado and spending some family time! We look forward to seeing mountains again!

June Srap Swap

June's scrap swap theme is Woodland Creatures. I decided to do this. Okay the picture is not that great, but you get the idea. I wasn't sure how realistic it needed to be. I thought that this would be cute, but I tend to think girly when it comes to stuff like this because I have two girls. Liz, let me know what you think. (My feelings will not be hurt.) If this doesn't work I will buy some stuff and probably still send this with something else. Anyway... I look forward to seeing what comes from everyone else!

house cleaning

This weekend we took another trip to our house in Celina. What a money hole that thing is becoming! As you know from previous posts we evicted our tenants based on numerous reasons. We had to go back this weekend to clean up. I thought for sure they would have cleaned a little when they left. Boy was I WRONG! I have NEVER seen a house so dirty in my life. How can you live like that? I should have brought my camera and taken pictures, but I didn't. Probably for the better. I don't want to remember my house being that way. Their dogs chewed the door jams, chewed a deadbolt, and scratched the heck out of the back door. As well as peed all over our carpets. If we rent this house again NO DOGS! We spent from 8:30 am to about 4:00 pm working. I cleaned the inside and Clay worked on the jungle of a yard! Just to give you an idea of how dirty the carpets were...I listened to the whole Hannah Montana soundtrack and half of the Police soundtrack while vacuuming. My arms are so sore from that. I think part of the problem was the vacuum. We borrowed my mom's vacuum and I have to say that was the HEAVIEST vacuum I have ever used. At least it is cleaned now! Still not ready to go on the market. The carpets look HORRIBLE! They were in the house for 2 months and the carpets looked worse than when we had the carpets cleaned after 4 years! After seeing this I realized that I do keep a pretty clean house. Not always organized, but at least it is clean! I am so glad to be home!!!

Is there an afterlife? YES!

This afternoon I was watching The View and the question was raised during Hot Topics, "Do you believe in an afterlife?" As the ladies were giving their answers it became more clear to me how many people really don't know the Plan of Salvation. I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have that there is an afterlife. I know that when we die that there is an afterlife. I am thankful for this knowledge. How scary would death be if we didn't know what was to happen to us? I know I would be scared to die. I am so grateful for a church that teaches clearly what happens once we die. I know that Heavenly Father is a just God. He is going to take careful considerations in how we are judged. One of the ladies on the View used to be a Jehovah's Witness and she said that only 144,000 people would be able to live with Jesus Christ. What an AWFUL concept. I know that through our faith and through our actions in this life and by receiving the ordinances that given way back to Adam and Eve we can live with our Savior and our Heavenly Father again. This topic really made me start to think how thankful I am for the restored Church of Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for Joseph Smith and his desire to know which church to join. I realized how important it is for me to teach my children those precious truths that we know and sometimes take for granted. Sorry about bearing my testimony. This is kind of my journal and I felt strongly I needed to write this down.

It feels like Christmas!

I made this (well 8 sets)...

and got all this... It came in the mail today! It was literally like Christmas! The anticipation was well worth the wait and well worth me making 18 cards! Liz you should have seen me tearing the paper to get into it! I am so excited! This will definitely get me back into the mood of scrapbooking! So worth it!

This also came in the mail with my other stuff. My friend Liz made this as part of her homemade gift to me. It is a 12 Days of Christmas tradition book. You should see the inside. This is super cute! I think this might be what I make my visiting teaching sisters for Christmas this year! I love this Give and Get thing going around! Now I just need to get in gear and start thinking of what I am going to make for my gifts!

As for an update on the family...we are doing well. Clay and I went to the Lubbock Temple with the Youth last Saturday! We had a nice time. I love the temple! I sat and watched the youth do baptisms for my ancestors. What a neat experience it is to know that my family who has been waiting for the gospel for so long that they can finally receive the ordinances they need to live with our Father in Heaven again.

Some friends and I did a Girls Night last Friday! We had so much fun. My visiting teacher/the sister I visit teach have birthdays around the same time and we decided we wanted to go out with some friends for our birthday. We went to Olive Garden to have dinner than came to my house for some Wii Fun! We played Wii sports and Rockband. Rockband was so much fun! I love the girls in my ward! It was so much fun getting to know them better! I feel like I have made friendships here that will last a lifetime!

As for the next few weeks we will be super busy! We are off to Dallas this weekend to go work on the house. We are getting it ready to go up on the market again. Next weekend we are going to Colorado to have a little vacation and to pick up my new PIANO! Yeah! Than the following weekend is our 5th Wedding Anniversary and Clay and I are going to San Antonio without the kiddos and spending some quality time together! I am so excited for the next few weeks! We are going to be busy, but it is going to be well worth it!

sick kids

I DO NOT LIKE when my kids are sick, but I sure LOVE to be needed! Call me crazy! Mady got sick last night. She was not herself at all. I rocked her for a while and then laid down with her on the couch. Honestly...I miss having a baby to baby. Oh well. The Lord will bless us when we are ready!

Weekend

Our trip to Dallas was NOT so exciting! Well besides seeing my parents and going to church it was AWFUL! It is really hard to see a house that you love and have lots of memories not look good when you go to see it. We honestly didn't even recognize our house. It has rained a ton in the area and when that happens you need to mow frequently. The yard looked awful besides the flowers that I had planted last spring. There were weeds growing like crazy and the side of the house looked like a jungle. The backyard was awful with a grill toppled over and charcoal all over the place. The weeds were growing like crazy back there as well. I don't think they had ever mowed the backyard. Not to mention how much trash was in the yard with cigarette butts and beer bottles. YUCK! I have pictures I will post as soon as my neighbor emails them to me. We were really disappointed with how the tenants were taking care of our house. They were 21 days late last month which was our deciding factor in getting up there. I am really glad we did. We found out they were unable to pay this month so they got their eviction notice and are supposed be out by Thursday evening. I hope and pray that Heavenly Father is mindful of our situation and will help us to be able to sell the house. That is what we really need right now. So if any of you know anyone that needs to buy a house please think of us in Celina!
Other than that everything else was GREAT! We got to spend some time with some of our neighbors. Thanks Ron and Anna and Darla for helping us with the yard! You guys are seriously AWESOME! We really appreciate your willingness to help us out and hurrying to do it as well before it rained! Darla if you read this: Thank you for lunch! You are so sweet.
We came home that night and had dinner with my mom and dad! Thanks mom for making such delicious lasagna and cake! The cake was awesome! Clay and I ate some last night after the kids went to bed.
It was also fun seeing everyone at church. We really do miss our ward out there. We love it here, but there is nothing like going home where you know most everyone. I still don't know very many people in the ward that we are in now.
I am trying to think positively and know that Heavenly Father will take care of us. We will more than likely be back again in two weeks to make sure the house is ready to be back on the market.

Excited!

I am so excited! We leave to go up to Dallas tonight. We are going to check on our house which has been rented out and we would like to go and meet the people who rented it. Clay also needs to do some work up there. The girls get to spend some quality time with Grandpa and Grandma on Saturday. This is a short trip I wish we could stay longer...oh well. We are going to go to church at the Prosper Ward on Sunday and then coming back home after. I also get to celebrate my birthday with my Mom and Dad! I turn 25 on Wednesday.