HUGE BABY STEPS!!!!

So what is it about our children looking and acting like adults? I don't get how all this happens so quickly. I looked at Brynna the other day and she just seemed so grown up. She has really grown into a beautiful young lady. She started high school two weeks ago and she is loving it. She just seems taller and more mature all of a sudden and I just don't get it. Did high school cause this immediate change in our 15 year old daughter? What kind of spell did it cast over her? She has three years of high school and then she will be moving onto college and life as an adult.
Right now she is looking forward to life with the "old people"---that would be Michael and I. She will be an only child in our home and I am sure that it won't be her favorite phase of life. Not much we can do about that. I guess we will try and be as young and as lively and as fun as we possibly can be---being the age that we are right now that might be difficult. We are just so boring!!!

Brynna started high school in a new school and in a place that she did not know anyone. She had a positive attitude and went forth with a smile on her face. She made some friends quickly and she is loving her ASL class. She told me the other day that this school is a good fit for her and she is loving high school. She let me know that she will be old enough to go to prom in April. Yikes----I could have gone all year without hearing that. She will be 16 in less than 6 months. Oh dear what will I do then? My baby dating? Help!!! I am getting so old!!!

Moving to Provo has given Brynna many opportunities to babysit. She has been so excited to earn some money and purchase the things that she has wanted for school. We have felt that this has been a big blessing in our lives since she didn't babysit much in our other area. She loves to spend money and so it is good that she has her own money to spend now.

She is an amazing young lady who is growing up so fast. She is beautiful and fun to be with. I see such great potential in her---she has so much of life ahead of her. I just hope that she can make it through the times without her sister home. We love you Brynna---thanks for being the youngest. Hope you can put up with us "old people". You will keep us young!!!

FOLLOWING THE DIRECTION FROM THE SPIRIT

Wow how are lives have been turned upside down this past week. We had a plan and things were falling into place so nicely. We were going to close on our house here and move in with Michael's parents until we could move into our new home in Provo. But with one little phone call---that all changed.

Michael and I have been talking so much about listening and following the spirit. I for one have a hard time sometimes knowing if it is the spirit talking to me or just my own thoughts. Both Michael and I have felt that moving to Utah County is the right thing to do. But we have had this big set back on the whole move and you start to wonder-----are we really supposed to move? But I know that Blairs are not quitters and we feel that we should move and that it is possible. It is just hard when you are in the middle of trials and making big decisions, your mind starts to play games on you and you start to question the first promptings you felt and the good feelings that came with it. We have felt that if we are praying, living right, moving forward, focusing on a new plan, the Lord will bless us and our righteous desires will happen. We just have to keep trusting in the Lord AND His timing for all of this to happen. I think that this whole thing has taught us to be humble and realize that we are not in charge----HE IS!!!!

We have felt the power of prayers being offered on our behalf and we are so thankful for our family and friends who are there to strengthen us and pray for us. We will get through this and someday we can look back on it and see all the many wonderful things we were taught and the miracles performed on our behalf. But for now-----
We press forward with cheerfulness and watch for the arm of the Lord to be revealed.

NEW HOUSE NO MORE!!!!

Got word yesterday that our buyer for our home in Syracuse lost his job so they had to back out of the contract. So--we had to cancel our contract on our house in Provo. It is a sad day at the Blair home. Not sure what the next step is right now. I am surrounded with packed boxes--ready to be moved. Do I start unpacking or do I leave them packed? Not sure what the Lord has in store for us. What a disappointment for us---we were going to close next week!!!

FINDING A NEW NEST!!!

This is the lovely back yard---I am going to have to use some creative skills to make this backyard look beautiful.


The kitchen of our new home


This is the house-----isn't it beautiful?

This move has not been without it's challenges!!! We are so thankful that we sold our current home so quickly. We looked at so many houses online and actually getting into many of them. It is so wearing on you after awhile and you compare everything with what you currently have and then you just can't find anything to match it. But we found this one on Memorial Day but the price was a bit high for our budget so we kept looking, and looking, and looking. Nothing was fitting with what we wanted and building was not an option for us right now. Then, the miracles started happening for us-----the price on this current home dropped by $10,000.00 and it was finished and ready to be moved in to. We went and saw it again last week and put on offer on it and now we are just waiting to close on it and move in sometime in July. Michael will only have a 10 minute commute to work and my parents are only about 7 minutes from us. We won't have much of a yard but I will have to use my Dad's huge yard to build me a garden. I never thought that I would return to Provo to live. I feel like I have come full circle. Michael and I lived in Provo while he was attending BYU and since that time we have lived in many other places: Ogden Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, and Syracuse Utah. We are excited to get into our new home and start a new chapter in our lives. Why is change just so hard sometimes?

GOLDEN BIRTHDAY!!!

This is our beautiful Kae Lee. She turns 18 on May 18th. She will be the first of our children to have her "Golden Birthday". These are some of the pictures I took of her just for fun--isn't she just beautiful? I just think she radiates so much light and happiness. She is such a blessing to our family. I just can't believe that she is 18 already! Where did my baby that weighed 9lbs and 8ozs. at birth go? Now she is a tall, slim, and such a beautiful young woman who is leaving our family to go to college. I must be crazy letting her leave our home to be on her own up in Idaho. We will miss her so much. She is such a happy, fun, and sometimes crazy young lady with lots of love for everyone. She is a great friend and help to me. I am so thankful that she is part of our family. She teaches me that life is to be fun and not just drudgery all the time. She loves to explore and find out why things are the way they are. I know that I just take things for granted sometimes and Kae Lee helps me appreciate the beauty of things. She is a talented seamstress and artist. She has so many wonderful gifts and talents. She loves little kids and could play with them all day long. She will be an amazing mother someday. She has been a great asset to the day care at the high school this year--her teachers have had nothing but praise for her. I know that she will miss those little kids when school is over. I just have a hard time seeing her going off to college to pursue her education in nursing. This mom just might have an emotional break down when she leaves. We are so proud of her and the great job she has done with her schooling thus far. She will truly be missed by all of us.

You are an amazing young lady Kae Lee----you have taught us so much. Remember that your home is always where your family is. You can come home whenever you want!!
Happy 18th birthday to our Golden Birthday Girl!!!!! We love you so much!!!

OH THE JOY OF IT ALL!!!!!

Our house has been on the market since March 25, 2011. Today is April 6, 2011 and we have had 7 showings in the last week and a half. I like the activity on the house and all the positive feed back we have been getting. We just don't have any offers yet. We have scrubbed, cleaned and polished the house everyday since it was listed. Thank goodness for Sundays----no showings on the Sabbath!!! Thank goodness the girls have been off for Spring break this week to help me when the realtor calls and you don't have much time to get everything done.

Last night we had just prepared dinner and the realtor called asking if we could be ready in one hour for a showing. Everyone went into action after inhaling their dinner. We got the house cleaned and ready in a timely manner. We had to get out of the house so we went and saw "Tangled" again---what a great movie!

Had another showing today and I haven't heard about anything tomorrow. I hope that we can get an offer soon and then we can start really looking for our house in Utah County. I haven't found anything that I really like---yet. I keep waiting for our perfect house to come on the market. What is a perfect house anyway?

OUR MOVING ADVENTURE---AGAIN!!!!

Love this house!!!


It seems like we have this thing with moving and having to move every four to five years. Don't know what it is about us but it happens---almost like clock work. We moved here to Utah almost four years ago. And when we moved here, I thought that this home would be our home for MANY years!!! Not to be so. Maybe we move because it is habit. Maybe we move because we need to start over gain. Maybe we move because the spirit prompts us to move and we feel like we had better act. Whatever the reason; we are what you would call "adventurers". I don't know if that is a real word but it is better than "nomads".

The process of moving is not new to us but yet each time I wonder how this will all turn out in the end. I worry and stew over all the hassle of selling a home and buying a new one. I love my house here and I love my neighborhood. I love my ward and the schools here. So---why are we moving? Because Michael is driving to Provo to work and that is about 2 1/2 hours of driving each time. We decided that we needed to get Brynna settled into a high school before she gets too far into the high school scene. It has been a really hard decision to come to since we have really enjoyed it here and we were comfortable here. But here we are going through this whole process again. I have dreaded it and have lost much sleep over worrying about all of the things that needed to be done to get the house ready to sell. I have painted all the rooms back to a neutral color---not something that I have enjoyed. We met with our realtor this week and the sign will be in the yard by this weekend. It is just painful to go through each phase of moving. I don't think it has ever been an easy thing to do but there has certainly been easier moves than others. I am hoping that our last move was the worst case scenario that we will ever have to have in a moving experience. It can only be better this time---right?

It is just heart breaking when you find out what you can sell your house for today. We bought our home when prices were high and now we will have to sell really low because of the down housing market. We are hoping that we can make up for some of that in the house we buy. They say that it is a buyers market but I am having a hard time finding a house like mine within a price range that we can afford.

Then you have to make sure that your home is SPOTLESS everyday and all day. We can't find anything because it is either in a box or shoved in some cupboard just to have it put away. Our home suddenly becomes just a house and not our own as we paint and start packing things up. It is emotionally draining and physically draining with all the work you have to put into getting it ready to sell. Oh the joys of it all and this is just the beginning.

Then there is the searching and looking for hours online at the houses available. I have been driving around and looking at houses and areas and high schools. After awhile everything starts looking the same and you wish you could just transplant your current house to your new location. Oh if it could just be that easy!!!

So---the photographer came and took pictures today of the house and we should be up and running by Saturday. And that is when all the fun begins with realtors calling to let you know that they have someone who wants to see your house today. It is such a roller coaster ride but there must be some sense of fun in it---we keep doing it don't we?

So wish us luck---we need it!!! Pray for us that we can make this whole adventure work out. Pray that I don't have too many melt downs when people choose the other house over ours. I just wish that I could have a house that I could fold up and take with me wherever I go. I guess they have those---they are called "tents". I think I will pass on that and keep looking for my next castle!!!!

MY YOUNGEST RED-HEADED BEAUTY

My beautiful Brynna this year.

My beautiful Brynna last year on her birthday!


The days, months, years just fly by so quickly for me. I looked at Brynna today and wondered how I got such a beautiful daughter. Brynna has really grown up and is taller than I am. She did something different this year and tried out for the play at school and was one of the main characters. It was so fun watching her on stage, she is a natural when it comes to acting. I think that she has found something that she really enjoys and might try out for other plays now that she has gotten her feet wet. Go Brynna!


Here she is with Sam Richardson who played LeRoy in the play.

Brynna will turn 15 tomorrow and that is just too much for me. I remember that snowy day that she was born and we wondered if we would make it the hospital. Her original due date was February 29 but I did not want to have a leap year baby. We had a scheduled C-section with Brynna and things went as close to perfect as you can get with that type of delivery. She came out perfect and has grown in beauty with each passing year. She loves to do make-up and hair. She really wants to go to cosmotology school and learn how to do all of that professionally. She is very particular about her clothes and how her hair looks. She doesn't mind giving pointers to others that aren't looking quite up to her standards as far as clothes and hair go. She loves being with people and will do anything for anyone. She gives amazing hugs to her family and friends. She has a strong testimony and loves going to the Temple to do baptisms. She has a beautiful voice and loves to share it with anyone who will take the time to listen to her. She loves her family and enjoys doing fun things with them---especially when she gets to plan what we do.

We love this youngest red-head of ours. She is a great daughter and we love having her as a part of our family. Happy Birthday Brynna----hope you have a wonderful birthday. Love, Your Mom and Dad

WHO SAID YOU COULD GROW UP?

Who said you could grow up?

Kae Lee was accepted to BYU-Idaho and she will be leaving the nest some time this year to go to college. How did she get to be at this point in her life already?
It seems like just yesterday she was starting school and I looked at her innocent face and wondered what she would grow up to be like. Now that she is approaching the age of 18, I look at a beautiful young woman with so many gifts and talents and so much love for people.

Kae Lee and Brynna are such close sisters. They love each other so much! They share their little sister secrets and do each others hair. I think that it is going to be a very hard adjustment for both of them when Kae Lee leaves our home. Brynna claims that she will be left at home with "two old people!".

I will truly miss Kae Lee because she is so artistic and whenever I need something drawn or lesson props made---she is the gal to do the job. She is just very talented in so many ways. I will miss her beautiful smile and her cheery attitude. She is a great person to be around because she is always happy and always looks at the good in people. She loves to be busy and doing fun things with her family and especially Brynna. I will miss her for her love for me. She is always giving me hugs and kisses on the cheek and whispering those endearing words; " I love you Mom!"
She will truly be missed for her funny little antics and outbursts of energy! Sometimes she just has to let out a little squeal to let you know that she is there and that she is either really bored or really happy. You just never know what to expect with Kae Lee----she is an unexpected delight.

I just don't know if I have prepared her well enough to be out on her own and so far away from home. I just don't know that I have taught her everything she will need to survive at college. I just don't know that I have taught her enough about studying and giving her very best effort in everything she does. Ahhhh----but I have. Kae Lee is a very dependent and responsible young woman with great hopes, dreams and goals for herself. She has a plan for her life. She knows what she wants to do and she knows how she is going to accomplish her goals. She can do this! And she will do it gracefully and with great excitement! You go Girl!!! Remember everything we have taught you and remember that your Heavenly Father loves you and only wants the very best for you---and so do we. You are an amazing young woman Kae Lee and we love you so very much. Come home often to visit---you are always welcome here! I guess it is okay for you to grow up---for that is what we have been teaching you and praying that you would do. It just happened too fast for us!