CHAPTER
2012

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March 2012

This month we had the Zelda girl spayed and micro-chipped. She came home and was like a totally different dog! Even though her amount of energy usually has me wanting to string her up by her tail, I felt pretty bad for her coming home like a Zombie. She had to sport the fabulous *cone of shame* for a bit while her belly healed and all I could think of was Dug from the movie "UP". Cal was pretty concerned/intrigued by Zelda's new accessory, and kept "visiting" with her, almost like he was trying to cheer her up. Such a sweet boy!

Justin jumped right in to his new preschool schedule; making friends, expanding his brain, and having a blast. He loved walking home from school with sister like a big kid. I got to volunteer and help out in his classroom this month (as well as other days throughout the rest of the year!) and that was great! It was fun to watch him interact with his little friends and follow directions and learn and grow. Each kid gets some kind of a special job each day. All of the kids are so cute. It's fun to watch them all learn to be little peoples of society.

Kaleb and I planted flower bulbs out front and I was ecstatic to watch them sprout and grow into something beautiful. Even though only about half of what we planted actually flowered, it was still exciting to be in the dirt, that we OWN, and create/grow something successfully. We also started a garden out back-- (it turned out fabulous as the year went on. We had peas, carrots, tomatoes, corn, peppers, and attempted rhubarb. Everything but the tomatoes and rhubarb grew and was delicious! The tomatoes got a late start and didn't get a chance to ripen before the frost came, and for some reason our rhubarb just never grew.) Oh well! We still have lots to learn, and I'm eager to learn it! 

Callum turned the big number 1! His first year went by so fast, it's unbelievable! From the last update (Dec 2011) to March 2012 he accomplished the following-- 

  

     * Perfected the art of walking with his walker. He cruises around behind that thing like a pro! 

     * Got a bunch more teeth. It seemed like those things decided to all pop out of nowhere all together!

     * He had his 1 year checkup. At one year-- 21 lbs, 29 in, and a head FULL of brains! He showed the doc some of his cool moves, charmed the nurse just like his big brother (Such a ham!), and took 3 shots like a champ!

     * Continued to absolutely AMAZE me with his awesome sleeping (and eating!) habits. 

We had a big family party for him, complete with GREEN cake. He was feeling a little out of sorts due to his teething and just wasn't quite his cheerful self, but he still ripped some wrapping paper, played with toys, and got all messy from his cake. He has been the BEST baby. I've been a little shocked at the trend of things as we add kidlets to mix. Usually it's supposed to get harder (or so people told me) as you add more. But each of my babies have gradually gotten easier. And none of them were EVER hard to begin with! Hopefully the Lord doesn't play a cruel trick on me and throw in a little "monster" before we're done. =) I love my Cal Pal... every little solid inch of him.

Kaleb and I celebrated 5 YEARS!! It's crazy because 5 years SOUNDS like a long time, but it literally feels like yesterday. We celebrated by escaping away for a kid-free night. It's always so refreshing to get away and be just the two of you. It was fabulous! 

I look back on my life and I get chills every time. Anytime I look back on everything that happened to me, all the choices (good and bad) that I made, people I met, places I went, people I dated,....  it ALL ties in together to create this path that led me straight to Kaleb. And I am so thankful for ALL OF IT. I am so glad it all happened the way it did and led me here; to my *Happily Ever After*. On March 23, 2007 I made one of the best decisions ever. I chose to marry my best friend. I thank the Lord every day for leading me to him... That he loved Angela and I enough to take us to the Temple to be sealed together for Time and All Eternity... That he continues to love me in spite of all my MANY shortcomings... I cannot even DREAM of anyplace I'd rather be than by his side...


APRIL 2012

With the spring came flower planting, gardening, and an adorable Robin's nest with bright blue eggs in our beautiful willow tree. I love Spring!

We celebrated Easter with the usual egg dyeing and hiding, goodies in the kids' baskets, new Sunday attire, and a visit with the Easter bunny. 

Angie Mae had her first choir concert. The program was so well done and super cute, I was really impressed. Angela worked so hard at memorizing her songs and little dances she did. She did wonderfully! She is so beautiful and wonderful in every way! I am so proud of her!  

 MAY 2012

 This month we had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend! -- Swimming, fishing, playing at the park, yummy ice cream, and watching the awesome Air Force Thunderbirds fly! We got awesome pictures of the jets (which I can't seem to find at the moment) and the kids got autographs from the pilots. There was even a female pilot and Angela thought that was pretty awesome. I also love teaching my kids about the real reason for Memorial Day. God bless all those who constantly sacrifice/have sacrificed for the Freedom I enjoy daily. 

I was put in as a Nursery Leader in my ward. The timing really worked out well due to the fact that Cal had begun being a bit of a terror for Church. They let me bring him in with me and he totally enjoyed playing with toys and friends way more than being penned against the Relief Society Room wall using chairs while I tried desperately to get something, ANYTHING, out of the lessons. So that was a huge relief! And the kids in our ward are super adorable. =)

Our little Callum joined the *walking* club this month. It was so cute to see him toddle around on 2 legs. I am sure he would have tried to walk sooner, but he was such a FAST crawler, it was ridiculous! So he obviously didn't care to walk until now. He's growing like a weed!


JUNE 2012


Angela started Track again this month. She did AWESOME again this year! First meet she came out with ribbons for 2nd place for 400 meters, 3rd place for 800 meters. Second meet she was first place in ALL her event heats. I was always excited to see what ribbons she bought home (and she brought home several!). She definitely put those LOOOONG legs to good use! Also, her coaches asked permission to move her up during practice to run her with the older girls because she is such a "fast, mature runner" and they didn't want her to be held back. That's my girl!

Cal got his first haircut from Mommy at home. We distracted him with the Ipad (which was then covered in hair) and I snipped away. I always hesitate to cut my kids' hair too soon. I feel like then there's no going back. They're really growing up. But it had finally reached that point where I was concerned about him being mistaken for a girl, so out came the scissors! He did great and looked like quite the stud afterwards. 

JULY 2012
 
This month was filled with all the fun, annual July type stuff; Fireworks, Whitewater River Rafting, Camping, swimming, eating from the garden in the shade of the willow tree, and just hanging out together having a ball.... It was all great fun. I LOVE SUMMER TIME!

I was released from Nursery this month and then called as the Young Women's Secretary. I was so excited for a change in scenery! I have always just done Primary and Nursery, and while the kids are precious, I was eager to try something new. It's gone excellently so far. Working with papers and calendars and computers is a good fit for me. And the ladies I serve with are absolutely FABULOUS and I just love them to pieces. We have become good friends really fast. All of the Young Women are super cute as well. Such sweet girls.


AUGUST 2012 

 We continued the celebration of summer through to the end of August...  we got passes to Seven Peaks (local water park) and got some good use out of it before it closed. The pass is good for one year so I'm eagerly awaiting for the water parks to open up again so we can have some more fun in the sun!

School started up for the kids again. Angela went into 3rd grade and Justin into his second year of Preschool. We got cute new clothes and all the necessary school supplies and they were ready to go! Angela ended up with half the ward in her class this year and was super stoked about that. Justin was excited to be able to go to Preschool 4 days of the week now instead of just 2 like last year. And Mommy was excited to have some quiet time with Cal during most days!

I had a proud Mommy moment when Justin said, in the sweetest voice ever, to one of the younger boys I care for .. "Do you know who lives in the sky? Do you? Heavenly Father does, that's who. And he created you and me!" I love my sweet, intelligent little boy so much!!

Justin started soccer this month. We felt he was finally at the age to pick something he wanted to do and Soccer was what he picked. He had practices and games for 2 months and did so well! He was so cute out there on the field, running for all he's worth, kicking the ball and making new friends. His team named themselves The Blue Sharks. He had a blue (obviously) jersey with the number 5 on it. We absolutely love his coach, and it has been such a great experience for him. His time to shine and be the star. 

SEPTEMBER 2012

Cal turned 18 months this month. I simply could not believe it! Time really does get faster and faster the older you get. I love him so much. He is so cute and has such a fun, vibrant personality. And he's been such a good baby!! So happy and easy going all the time. I love my little Cal Pal! 

This month was the kids' Primary Program. It was Justin's first program ever and even though he was too scared to talk into the microphone he still did a good job singing and smiling. Angie had her part memorized like a pro. I have such adorable, good kids. Thanks everyone who came out to support them!

This month we also got a NEW VAN! Our old one was a good vehicle, it was just pretty old and had LOTS of miles on it. It finally started to give us more trouble than it was worth. We lucked out and found the van of my DREAMS. Literally. And at a pretty decent price. We got a 2005 Honda Odyssey. Leather seats. Seat warmers. DVD system. Awesome stereo. moon/sun roof. Power everything. Stow and go seats. Seats 8 comfortably. TONS of room. I love it!! 

We took a trip up north a ways to Brigham City and took the kids through the open house for the new Brigham City Temple. Our tour time was early in the morning so we decided to go up the night before and make a little getaway out of it. We stayed in a hotel near the temple, had some pizza and swam in the hotel pool. The kids had a blast and loved seeing the temple. It was so pretty, inside and out! I love touring temples and sharing that experience together as a family. 

Zelda turned a year old! For her birthday, the kids and I bought her a new bone, stuck a candle in a chewy dog treat sprinkled with dog food and sang to her. We helped her blow out the candle, but she needed NO help devouring her treat and was quite excited to "un-wrap" her bone. She is such a Zany pup! So full of life and love. So happy that she joined our family... 

OCTOBER 2012

This month I reeled in a pretty decent job. We needed some extra mula and I had been searching and praying like mad for something that would work out for our family. We definitely couldn't afford for the kids to go to daycare or a sitter, and with that, it really limited my availability. It was pretty frustrating, until I found Gold's Gym, thanks to a friend! They have a playroom there where people can drop off their kids while they go work out. Best part of the deal was that MY kids could could come to work with me! That got 2 birds with one stone. It's been going really well so far and I enjoy all the girls I work with. 


Angela got a free violin from a work friend of Kaleb's and was pretty excited about it. She got hooked on the Lindsey Stirling craze and thinks she is pretty awesome! One of the cute Young Women in our ward helped her get it set up and taught her about the violin and gave her some starting pointers. We have yet to start official lessons on it. We need to free up our schedules a bit and buy some supplies and such. Wondering if I should look around for private lessons or just have her hold off until 5th grade and have her take it through her school. We shall see! She looks pretty cute holding it though!

Then we had the normal Halloween Happenings; Pumpkins, costumes, more candy than we need... I was Princess Leia, Kaleb was C3P0, Justin was R2D2, Cal was Yoda, and Angie was a ballerina. Angie didn't care too much for our Star Wars family theme so we let her pick what she wanted to be. Everyone looked smashing, either way. 

  NOVEMBER 2012

This month was one of the greatest months. Kaleb got a NEW JOB!! We have been really struggling financially for awhile now and it has had me SO stressed out. Since having to replace the old, dying van it got EVEN WORSE. Having a car payment again SUCKS! We started praying, fasting, and paying tithing like our lives depended on it for some kind of help/solution. Since we started being more diligent with those things, (prayers, fasts, tithing) things have just fallen into our laps. LITERALLY. A couple of *material things* we'd wanted showed up for FREE. I found a job where I could take the kids with me. I got a couple replies to my childcare ads. And even my trip to RAGNAR that I was stressed over money-wise worked out pretty inexpensively. Finally... When Kaleb called me to tell me he had been offered a job with a pretty substantial pay increase, I hung up and just started bawling... The Lord TRULY heard our prayers and answered them TEN FOLD. It's absolutely amazing. NEVER AGAIN will I struggle with the concept of paying tithing.... EVER...

Kaleb's been loving his new job. Loves the location and the people he works with and the actual job is something he can apply his schooling to. The benefits are great and his hours are fabulous. It has been such a blessing for our family. 

I mentioned RAGNAR.... Yes, it's true...  I ran the Vegas RAGNAR! It was such a fun experience! I found a friend that had spots open on her team and snagged one of the spots. I have always wanted to try it, and I was NOT disappointed. We had an awesome team with such fun people. We ran all day, all night, and all day again, and partied together at the end of it. Ran all over Las Vegas and saw some gorgeous views. Even did a little sight-seeing before heading home. I would definitely do it again, but I would train harder next time for sure! Trying to run several miles on very little sleep and very little food is a lot harder than I thought it would be. But it sure was a blast!

Had the annual Thanksgiving festivities; Family. Food. Movies. Pie. Shopping. I am so thankful that I was able to spend the holiday surrounded by the people I love.


DECEMBER 2012

I spoke with the pediatrician about my concerns that Cal wasn't talking as much as I thought he should be for his age. She gave me the phone number for a program called Early Intervention (DDI). I spoke with them and scheduled monthly appointments for Cal. The doctor did NOT feel that he is autistic or otherwise disabled in any way. More just a possible miniscule speech delay if anything. That is what the specialists with DDI determined as well. He scored great in all areas except for expressive communication. Meaning he needed a little help learning to use words to express himself. He was just perfect with everything else. The appointments have been going well and they gave us ideas of things to do with him to help encourage more words. He has started talking so much more now, and I love it! I feel we can communicate better with each other. and he picks up new words and phrases constantly. I'm still honestly wondering if he just wasn't talking much because he just didn't care to or need to. He's a man of few words, with 2 older siblings who are constantly jabbering! Either way, I'm relieved to know that he is a happy, healthy, normal little guy.

This month we celebrated Christmas with all the usual fun; Family, food, presents, Temple lights - - such a GREAT time was had by all! The kids all loved their gifts and Cal really got into the paper-ripping this year. It was pretty cute. I am so very thankful for my Savior and His gift, the ULTIMATE gift, which is the true reason for the season.

Angela prepared and delivered her first Primary talk. She did AWESOME! I helped her come up with the basic outline of her talk and let her fill in the blanks with a story and examples and her testimony.

The laundry is always on the verge of taking over the house, the dishes are, more often than not, piled up in the sink... A lot of times I feel like I'm constantly behind, borderline failing... But as I saw the excitement in Angela's eyes as she prepared her talk and made the connection between a flashlight in the dark and Jesus Christ, I realized that I'm actually succeeding. I'm currently winning the most important battle I'll ever face. 

New Years Eve Came and went and it was fantastic! Had the annual party at my In-laws which is always a ton of fun. Played games, ate food, shot off fireworks at midnight. Most important was the fact that I was with my little family, celebrating another year together and looking forward to the year to come together. Eternity won't be long enough to be with my sweet husband and darling kids. The extended family is pretty fabulous too... ;)

  

This concludes the 2012 chapter of "A Knobel Tale. . ."  

I really am desperately trying to get this blog caught up. It's a lot of work when you let it gather dust for a couple years! At least I'm into the current year! Ha! Let's see if I can keep it up now...