"Heart Attack"

No, no one close to us has had a heart attack recently. At least not that I've been told about. I'm talking about "heart attacking" where someone puts hearts and cute stuff all over someone's yard, room, whatever. The other week, the young women in our ward decide to "heart attack" me! To say the least, I was honored! They were so sweet to think of me. They left really nice messages on the hearts too. It was fun. What was fun too is, the night they decided to do it, we had the 3 kids I mentioned earlier (6 yr. old JR, 3 yr. old HM, and 9 month old LP). As the young women were doing it, I guess JR and HM kept opening the front door, looking at them. Jared kept telling them to close the door. :o) Later that night, we had put the kids to bed. All the sudden we hear JR coming down the stairs, yelling to look outside! I guess he didn't realize what they were doing. He was so excited. The next morning, I talked JR into racing me to see who could clean up the most hearts. Needless to say, he won ;o) Here are some pictures of the young women's art work.






Hope this finds all well!! Know you're all loved!!!

Better late then never, right?

A couple of weeks ago we had the previlage of going up north to visit Jared's sister, Jeni, and her amazing family. We had a blast!! They live near a park, 7-11, and most importantly ... a temple!!!! While we were there, we had to celebrate!! Our niece's leopard turned ... I think 4 :o) I also had the privilage of accompanying Jeni and Bart (He's Jeni's hubby) when they sang in sacrament meeting! They have amazing voices, and harmonize beautifully!! Such an honor to play for them. Jared put his creative skills to work and made the kids some plastic boats. There's a ditch for irrigation water right outside the house, so boat races became the cool thing to do! Anyway~ here are some pictures of the fun!! Enjoy! Love to all!!

look at the excitement in this 8 yr. olds face!! CLASSIC!

Yummy desert for Tiger's birthday... yes, Tiger is the leopard's name

close up of one of the cool boats Jared made

and they're off!

Jared with our nephew and niece #2... cooling looking boat nephew is holding, huh?

me accompanying Jeni and Bart (sorry, Jared didn't get very good pictures. Bart, you can blame him for you being cut out)

right outside the temple! Having fun ... think Jared could walk that way? ;o)

the photography skills of... I think niece #1

kid at heart... Love that man!

a game of ... can you find all three kids?

Happy birthday to me!

So yeah, as mentioned in my hugely long post... my birthday was last week. You know, I have to say, as I get older birthdays really become just another day for me. Still fun to get spoiled (which I definitely got spoiled this year!) but I don't have this desire to announce to everyone I see that it's my birthday... like I did when I was 5.

We did get more pictures, but it was pretty much all the same thing. This picture was taken the night before. Jared threw together a little party... we just had ice cream (couldn't forget the reese, chocolate syrup, and peanut butter!) and visited. Mom Payne was there, Jason (Jared's bro.), Michelle (Jason's wife), and their boys (although the boys were sleeping at the time of the fun), and two of my good friends Jessa and Emily.

The day of my actually birthday we went for breakfast, I went to movie and lunch with Shannon (my sis.), and later that night we went to the temple. There were other things in there, but I don't consider them birthday celebration stuff.

Like I said I got SPOILED!!! The main spoiling things were ... Mom Zobrist and my sisters got me a massage!! It was AMAZING!!! Much, much needed. Thanks so much again you guys! I also got a pedi/mani from some good friends!! Thank you, thank you Vicki and Darren!! That was also much needed. So I took a day this last week and used both. I was in heaven that whole day. I also got lots of small things from Mom Payne, Mom Zobrist, Shannon, and another friend. Jared got me something that ... I love, but it benefits him a bit too ... He got me a bluetooth keyboard thing for our ipad. So yeah, and that's not to mention all the birthday wishes on facebook, here, calls, texts...

I would definitely say I was spoiled. Thanks so incredibly much everyone!!! Love you all!!!

Three of three from Jared

Okay, so here's the last one that Jared has written up. He has said he'll write one about scout camp too. We'll see how it all goes. Anyway~ this one is by far the funniest, I think. At least it was funny to watch him while this was all going on. Love to all!!

I really hate Cell Phones. I do not want to give the impression that phones are not useful but they are of minimal use to me. Cell phones created the second worst form of communication text messaging. It took twitter to make texting worse. Many people keep telling me to text them things like home teaching numbers. I can tell you something texting with me is a one way communication unless you are on my list.

Jared’s Texting List
Devin Payne

Did you see your name on the list I do no think so. I have recently had people want me to text them my home teaching numbers and other nonsense. Like most people I have had several cell phones. My first one I hated because it was to big and clunky. The keyboard that made texting easier caused the phone to be to cumbersome to carry. I got a small light bar phone but Devin made me get rid of it because I kept buying ring tones with my back side and calling people all the time. I hate flip phones but I obviously can not have a bar phone. I did not want a new flip phone so I got Devin’s old phone. It is a purple flip phone need I say more.

This phone is the worst phone I have ever owned I accidentally push buttons while the phone is in my pocket multiple times a day, and it starts talking to me. Recently it developed a new feature- 1 way communication. I could talk and you could hear me but I could not hear the person talking. At the time I was telling Devin about my new feature on instant messenger, the 3rd worst form of communication, and she called me to see if my phone really acquired the new feature. I was on the phone singing about how cute Devin is and what a wonderful wife she is. Only to find out that Devin was not the person I was talking to on the phone. It was my Mom. I was excited about not having to listen to anyone on my phone again when Devin informed me I needed to get another phone. I used another of Devin’s old flip phones again and when I got home I got to do the following to the broken phone.






The sweet revenge for ruining my life.

FINALLY

Alright, here we go. Ready for the excitement of the Payne household for the last couple of weeks? I'd recommend grabbing the chips and drink first! Maybe empty that bladder too. This is a LONG one. Sorry! I’ll break it up with random pics. :o)

So on Aug. 9th, we (Jared took the day off to be with me) took LM to the pediatrician, went to WIC, came home for lunch, had to go back to WIC, ran to Wal-Mart, and then took LM to his bio mom. Hardest thing EVER!!! I am so grateful my Jared was with me. I don't think I could have done that on my own. After we went to get comfort food (aka frosty's) and took time to ourselves when we got home.

On the 10th, at like 830 am, our foster care case worker called us, asked how we doing. Then she asked if she could fill that void for us, with some respite (just a reminder, respite is glorified baby-sitting). 3 kiddos, JR who's 6, HM who is 3, and LP who is 9 months-ish. The older two are boys, the baby is girl. We got them that afternoon, at about 1:30 and had them until Monday, the 15th. I dropped them off somewhere in the morning. We had an absolutely blast with these kids.

Wed. we didn't do much, as far as doing stuff with the kids. Jared was at work then had scouts.

Thurs. we did lots of water activities before Jared got home. That evening we took them to a local park place where they had different booths, JR spent like an hour and a half shooting hoops. They seemed to have had a blast. Jared's mom stayed with us that night too.

Fri. we had a few of the neighborhood kids over, Jared make his stair slide, painted faces, and made snow cones! The kids had a BLAST!! They absolutely did not want to go to bed. Jared's mom stayed with us again that night.

Sat. we had a Payne family reunion!! Jared and I went car shopping in the morning (that post is coming), then we went to his uncle's to swim! The kids, as well as us, had a BLAST! Jared had to teach JR that we do not jump into the pool with out someone there (these kiddos don't know how to swim well). HM was total opposite... it was all we could do to get him to jump to us from the sides. That night we had dinner, and had cake and ice cream for Mom Payne's birthday.

Sunday was church, didn't do much. All three did awesome at church! Which I was grateful for. We spent the evening playing games, going for a walk, and just talking with them.

On Monday, the 15th, I took the kiddos to where I was instructed too. On my way home I got a call from Jason, Jared’s bro, telling me Michelle, his wife, is a ticking time bomb of having their second baby any time and wanted me to be able to take their first. I agreed. Got home, cleaned up the house, had my visiting teachers over, ate lunch, went to the car place and bank with Jared, came home for a bit, took my friend to physical therapy, picked Jared up from work, went to the bank, went to the car place, and home. We decided to go out to eat. We’re walking into Panda Express and we get a call from Michelle saying her contractions were about 2 mins. apart and they were headed to the hospital! Yeah, strong women for being able to call me when going through labor! We ate, came home for a bit, then I went to the hospital. Jared had a warped idea of what happened there so he was reluctant to come at first, but we talked him into it. :oD... He left after a while, and the rest of us hung out ALL NIGHT! Tanner Scott made his appearance at about 5:15 am on the 16th. CONGRATULATIONS again you guys!!!!

So, Tues., the 16th, I came home, ate, woke up Jared so he could get to his physical therapy (which he’s doing REALLY well!! Hopefully only one or two more appointments). I took a bit of a nap, then took my friend to physical therapy. While we were there I got a call asking if we’d do shelter care (shelter care is when they need a quick place for the child to stay until they get family or a foster family lined up- if you agree to shelter the child well most likely stay with you IF they do not go to family). This one was a 5 day old girl. We got her that afternoon. I spent the afternoon taking care of her, getting appointments set up for her, and all that good stuff. That night I went out with one of my amazing friend to get clothes for baby girl. And of course we had to get ice cream. :o) I was pooped by the time I was able to get to bed!

Wed., the 17th, I picked up my friend and we took baby girl to the pediatrician. While there I got a call saying baby girl is going to her aunt and I need to bring her to the office that afternoon. So we finished at the peds, took my friend to PT, ran home to grab baby girl’s stuff, and take her to the office. My friend and I grabbed lunch, went to her house, and I helped her get her kids packed for a trip they went on. I got home, hung out with Jared for a bit, then he went to scouts. I got house stuff done... I think lol.

Thurs., the 18th, I got a bunch of stuff done, took my friend to PT, and had a productive day (ie. laundry and getting life organized a bit)... I think. Sorry, memory is faded there. That night we went to dinner at Jason’s house. Mom Payne cooked a yummy meal! After the adults went to see “Aida”! SO AWESOME!! I highly, highly recommend it.

Fri., got finances worked on, put our white Honda up for sale, and took my friend to PT. Got home, had lunch, ran a couple of errands, got a few more house keeping things done, and hung out with Jason, Michelle, their boys, and Mom Payne. Jared got home, I baby-sat the boys while the others went shopping (I was left behind because Jared had to get my birthday present). When they got home, we cooked dinner. A couple of other friends came over and we loaded up a BUNCH of stuff in cars for the yard sale! We ended up with 6 car fulls! They sang happy birthday to me, and we had ice cream. While my friends and I were taking the yard sale stuff to one of their houses, a guy came to look a the car and bought it! Well... he said he’d come back the next day with money and officially buy it. Yeah, that car sold QUICK!! Mom Payne spent the night with us again.

Sat, my actual birthday was awesome! We actually were late getting up, but we still got Mom to the airport on time (thank you Heavenly Father!). We went to breakfast, then I met up with my sister for sister time! We got lunch and saw “The Help”. AWESOME!! Loved it. I’m not much of a reader, but I might just have to read the book now. It was a great movie. While I was there the guy came to get the car, and Jared ran to the bank. Came home, got a thing or two organized, then rushed with Jared to get scouts. Long story short, Jared and his scouts had to man a booth at a county fair that no one told Jared specifics about until I got a voicemail. So we got scouts, went to man the booth, took it down, had the scouts over for treats to thank them, took the scouts home, got ready, and we went to do temple sealings. So needed! I felt much better after. We came home and just chilled the rest of the night.

So there is our last couple of weeks! Now hopefully you understand why I’ve been a bit MIA! It’s all been fabulous, wonderful things. Just time consuming and means I don’t get to blog as much as I’d like. Hope this finds all well! We do have a couple of other post we need to get up. Until then, love to all!!