girl vacation

A couple times during the summer Tanner and Ashlyn had soccer tournaments on the same weekend so Casey and I would divide and conquer.  I would take the girls to Utah and Casey with the boys to Boise!

It was so much fun to be with the girls.  They are always adorable and make me happy to be their momma!

At this particular tournament, I didn't have a lot of faith in Ashlyn's team and so I thought they would be out of the tourney the first day and I even teased Ashlyn for it.  We only packed for one day and I had made plans to be home over the weekend.  But, their team went all the way to the championship game and placed 2nd, which meant that we stayed an extra 3 days and 2 nights.  Ashlyn sure let me have it on how little faith I had in her team.  I was so glad to be wrong and to have had those extra days with just the girls!

Homecoming 2012

Two weeks ago I got a phone call early in the week from an old friend telling me that Tanner had been nominated as Sophmore Attendent for the Homecoming Royalty.  I giggled a little bit and then was sworn to secrecy to not tell anyone but Casey.  So the night before the assembly Tanner was laying on my bed chatting with me and I thought I would quiz him a little bit on any upcoming events.  He went through a list and didn't say anything about Royalty so I asked, "Isn't there some king and queen thing that they also do?"  He quickly said, " Oh mom, I would never want to have to do that.  It would be so embarassing!  It would be awful!".  I thought to myself, "This boy is in for a big surprise!"

Most people don't know how shy Tanner is.  He doesn't like the spotlight or to be in front of big crowds and have attention drawn to himself.  It takes a lot of courage for him to perform his music in front of people, but he is getting better!  Anyway, I was excited and nervous for him.

On Friday they were to have an assembly and parade.  So I was to take his nice clothes to the school and they would pull him out before the assembly and get him ready.  Around 8:30 a.m.  I get a text from Tanner that said

"flip. . . ."

At that point I knew he had been told and was in for a roller coaster ride.  

I made it to the assembly and saw him sitting with the group of royalty, gave him a thumbs up and went to sit down.  The freshman were the first to be presented and when I saw the young man present the young woman with a tiara and then give her a kiss on the cheek I really started to giggle.  Poor Tanner is definitely being put out of his comfort zone and now he gets to kiss a girl he doesn't know on the cheek in front of the whole school!  After the assembly he came to me and said how grateful

he was that I made him kiss my cheek before he left for school every morning, it helped him with the logistics of it all!

Tanner did an awesome job!   He made it through and I was so proud of him.  The parade was fun.  Half-time at the football game was great.  The hour that he spent at the dance was awesome.  All-in-all it was an amazing experience.  

EMBRACE

I have been pondering a lot lately on the word 'embrace'.  Life for us Puzey family has changed pretty drastically in the past two months.  We moved rather quickly from our home back to our roots.  Moved in with the in-laws (who were amazing) for a month!  Moved again into a cute little home in the country.  Now we have been settled for two weeks and things are beginning to get back to a normal.  'Normal' as in family dinners, chores, planning menus, arguing over tight bathroom quarters!

Anyways,  one day as I was driving and thinking of all that had happened  in such a short time, I had a very peaceful and grateful feeling come over me, that life is good and all will be well.  It did take two months to get that feeling, but it did come in a very comforting way and I am grateful.  I wanted to embrace that feeling and keep it with me always, but then I realized that in all situations of our lives we need to embrace them because we don't know what will come our way in the future.

I decided I am going to embrace:
*another move
*a new ward
*a cute little house
*being close to family
*old friends
*new friends
*my growing children
*starting over
*those who serve without question

I am going to embrace every situation because I know that the Lord is in charge of all things and it took me a while to be able to let go of my circumstances and to turn it over to Him.  I know if I trust in Him, all will work out, maybe not in a way that I think they should or in the time frame that I want, but it will work out.  So 'embrace' all that is good around you and all will be well.

FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT

 my boys minus Casey:(

 beautiful field of sunflowers

 Puzey girls

 who do you think is the hardest to get under control?

 the sunflower field was literally buzzing with bees

Ash got a little nervous!

lovely people who let us live with them!

family vacation-OREGON

This past week the family traveled to Philomath, Oregon, to stay with our cousins & experience Oregon for the first time!  I have to say that it is our best family vacation ever.  All the kids are old enough to understand, appreciate, walk by themselves and enjoy their surroundings!

While we were driving next to the Columbia River Gorge, Casey & I commented over and over on the beauty of the forests.  I had never seen so many trees that were so huge and crammed together on a mountainside.  So many different types of pine trees inter-mixed with oaks and maples and others that I don't even know about.  My breath was taken away.

When we drove into Portland we kept on telling the kids that this city was enormous and they wouldn't believe it.  Well, they didn't believe us because they couldn't see it through all the trees.  For me normally as you drive through a city and are looking for a restaurant or place to shop all you have to do is watch for their big sign.  You couldn't see the signs in Portland through all the trees!  Simply amazing.

As we made our way to the coast we were stunned by the beauty of the countryside.  The green was so clean and vibrant.  Flowers, plants and bushes were big and lucious.  I could go on and on.

Monday as we made our way to the coast, the family was in great anticipation.  My kids have never seen the ocean before and we were all excited.  We were headed to Newport and some of the beaches and a lighthouse there.  Mists rose above the water, over the beach and into the heavily wooded mountains to create the most romantic, quaint, village-like scene I had ever scene.  Truly beautiful!

the kids found jelly fish washed up on beach

enormous piece of dock washed up from Japan tsunami

 Cobble Beach- doesn't have sand, instead it has these

beautiful smooth black lava rock.

walking down to beach through lush forest

A huge thanks to our cousins, Todd, Jen, and their kiddos,  for being amazing hosts and sharing their part of the world with us, it was an adventure we will never forget!

During the vacation, my kids kept asking me why we don't live here (in Oregon).  I have to admit that I asked myself that many, many times.

soccer spring 2012

Tanner had a tournament in Boise

It is always fun to watch so many athletes get together

and work hard.

Tanner is very dedicated and works so hard

He will wake up at 5:30 a.m.

to do his own training.

I have a lot of respect for him!

Earlier in the week Ash was in Pocatello.

She plays goalie the first half and 

forward the second half.  

I think she is amazing and doesn't have

any fear (at least that I see)

as she goes head to head against an opposing player!

so fun

 in the shot above

she deflected the ball 

it hit the cross bar

& went behind the goal!

amazing

tuft

Tuft

our first baby canary

he or she is 8 days old

(in this picture-brand new)

casey couldn't be happier

with this new addition to our family!

baby canaries

Casey has always loved birds.

He had several while growing up and his aunts and uncles raised canaries,

so it has always been a desire to have his own.

Earlier in our marriage we owned, I think, 3.

Sadly, they all died.

But, Casey never got the bird bug out of his system.

We have owned 3 canaries for the past 6 months and just started breeding them.

We thought we had 2 males and one female

until one day 'justin' started nesting and laid an egg.

We now call HER 'justine'.

So at the moment we have 3 eggs in one nest & almost 4 in another.

I am not sure what we will do with them, but they will be an adventure.

The eggs are about the same size

& could totally be mistaken for one of the small chocolate cadbury eggs.

Pretty amazing!

happy birthday ellie!

we love her!

she has been so giddy all week long

her dreams came true

when she got her bike gloves with knee and elbow pads!

all geared up!

she has been a joy for 7 years

so glad she is in our family!