Random thoughts and blogging...

There hasn't really been a lot of changes in our house, but some things that we are really just adjusting to.  Ashton and David finally finished baseball which we are SO happy about.

Shon is working about 70 hours a week and I am back up to about 40 hours a week.  And I love that we are both working and loving our jobs with a few exceptions that come to mind which I will talk about later.  But my mom and dad always worked when I grew up and I feel that it tought me a lot about responsibility and taking care of my family.  For the most part David and Jordan are with Shon or I if the other is working which is awesome and I am so thankful that we both have job positions that allow us to do that.  We are able to pay our bills with no hesitation now and even able to get some things paid off!  We were able to finally buy our second vehicle which has helped us out tremendously!

I have been a little down lately.  Someone whom I invested a lot of time with and helped out seems to have "replaced" our relationship. And without going all "high school"--their loss.

I miss my mom and sister.  I need them.  I am having a hard time with babysitters and people just wanting to help without asking what they get in return.  How about the good 'ol feeling of knowing you helped someone out?  A lot of my friends have been wanting to hang out or go out...well as you know I can't just drop everything and go like I use to.  So I feel like some of those friendships have simmered (at no one else's fault mind you). 

I have really clung to my church callings and substitute callings.  The past couple of months have been visiting teaching, Enrichment committee and teaching in Relief Society.  I have learned SO much about myself through all of these.  I love those that I am working with and the great spirits they have.  I have made some great friends so I couldn't ask for more.

Many nights I miss my husband but I know he is serving our community and loves doing what he does.

I have had a lot of people ask me why I just don't quit working.  I was not raised that way and I just am not a lazy person.  I like work, I like the responsibilities I have and the people who surround me.  I may miss my kids during the day while I am at work, but it just makes coming home THAT much better. 

So with all the said.  I am ready for school to start.  I am ready for fall and I am ready to just keep swimming.

Class of 2011!

Ok, so I am actually doing this post for THREE seperate celebrations.  This past week has been such a busy week with everything buy such a great memory maker AND also a trip down memory lane.

First and foremost, David graduated from kindergarten! I recorded some of the "commencement" but I think the DVD his super awesome teacher made up tops it all!

Secondly, this year is my 10, yes TEN year high school reunion.  I am having a hard time swallowing this one.  Only cause I don't wanna be this old.  But, alas...(sigh) I am that old.  So here is the awesome logo one of my classmates made up for us!

GO BEARS!



Last but but not least, my very last (in-law) graduated from high school.  Not to beat a dead horse and go back to the whole age thing, but this was another reason I felt old.  He was in elementary school when Shon and I met...so I saw this one through all years! Anyways, Congrats Cameron! Ahhh PG!

Officer Frary

Most of or friends and family know that money has been tight and times have been tough in our home.  When Shon was let go from IM Flash about a year and a half ago, ModusLink (which is the company he worked with for 5 years and where he worked when we got married) took him on full time (even though it was through a temp agency).  Well, they told him in about 6 months from that time he would be hired on. Great, awesome, cool, right?! Wrong.  He never got hired on, although he does still have a job, we really needed more money and something more "permanent".  So about 2 months ago Shon sat down and just went through job app trough job app and applied for a TON of jobs. We made sure we paid our honest full tithing to our church and we fasted and we prayed and we fasted.  One night we were sitting on the couch trying to figure out finances and we were just shy to pay all of our bills on time and in full.  I opened my email and I had my pay stub from my job and I had a NICE surprise.  The next day, sitting on the couch again talking to Shon we get a phone call and the caller ID says "Provo City".  Hmmm, don't know anyone there so it goes to voicemail (we suck at answering our home phone by the way if we don't know who it is).  We wait that 2 seconds it takes to leave a message and then he calls our answering machine. It is the City of Provo Police Department! A job Shon had applied for! They ask Shon to come in for an interview for a parking enforcement officer with the police force. 

A week goes by until this interview and Shon and I were very confident.  We had done EVERYTHING we could possibly think of to make sure he got this job.  D-Day came.  Shon went in for his interview and he left feeling very confident after meeting with the Sergeant over him.  2 o'clock came and the Sergeant called Shon and told him point blank it was between another guy who came highly recommended and Shon and they are still thinking about it...ugh! Really? 4 o'clock came...HE GOT IT! Yay! Such a blessing to have Shon doing something he loves and has always wanted to do (working for a police department).  He is happier and so is our checking account! :-)

So today, Shon came home with some homework...JUST a little!

 

 P.S. They made him shave the mustache...not apart of the dress code. :-( We ALL know how I love em!

 Some slight reading material! It was about 3 inches thick..Hahahaha!

His "personal" binder and his badge number.

Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes...

David was accepted to Quail Run Primary School in the fall.  It is a Charter School.  So we are hoping this is just the ticket for him to figure things out easier and get the help he needs in learning in school.  He isn't to thrilled with the uniform policy...but...well...he just isn't good with change in general, so let's hope for the best!

http://www.qrps.org/index.php?page=general-information

Listen to this playlist: cristinafrary's playlist

Mother's Day 2011

For some people it is Christmas, for some people it is Thanksgiving and for some people it is Valentine's Day.  But for me it is Mother's day.  I never thought I would be able to celebrate and cherish Mother's day.  So...now that I can, I am going to take it for granted.  Thanks to David's awesome teacher-he brought this home for me.  This is the best book ever! Thanks David! I love you.

Easter Colors!

My mom knows...you can't have Easter without coloring eggs...it is like illegal in our house! So here are some pics of our Easter Holiday.

 Colors, colors, COLORS!

 Excuse Ashton's arm. :-)

 David's Basket from Mr. Easter Bunny...he got some cool hot wheels cars!

 Ashton's Basket...the Easter Bunny even brought him baseball pants, sock AND a belt!

 Jordan's Easter Basket...he got a fishing pole!

Spring Break!

This year, I decided to take some time off with my boys and try to enjoy some time with them on spring break.  I was also needing a much needed break from everything as well, so it worked out as a good excuse.  We did a lot...from spring cleaning the boys room to 3 hours at the park...it was a blast and I am glad I had this time with my kids.  Here is our/my day to day spring break-down:

Tuesday: Done with work--got my nails done for the first time in a really long time! Mommy pamperin time! And we went a little karaoke.

Wednesday: Shon has to work. :-( He was called in for a 12 hour shift! So...we spring cleaned.  I have 20 grocery bags from the boys room for our family yard sale.  We super scrubbed the kitchen (gross).  And we chilled.  Them I made Grandma's famous cabbage soup.

Oh and I had made a lot of these for breakfast! The boys love them!

Thursday: Game afternoon/night! I forgot to take pics of this one.  Frary game nights are always interesting.  We played and munched on A LOT of munchies and pizza.  Serious munchy overload!

Friday: Happy Birthday Kolton! My nephew turned 4! Some of the family was going bowling so we just added more people and made it into his birthday party! David and Jordan bowled for the first time.  It was super cute and funny!

Then we ate some cupcakes and opened some presents! After that we had to take Ashton home for the week. 

I met his mom at a park in Lehi to drop off and I couldn't contain the kids to not play at the park on such a nice day! So they played there for 20 minutes, then we were invited to meet up with some friends at the park by our house...we went and almost 4 hours later...we became lobsters with some sun stroke!

You would think I would remember that I burn in like 2 seconds! And so does Jordan.  Dave got a little kiss fom the son too! So we nursed ourselves that night and hit the hay early.

Saturday: Another early morning.  I had to go get my Bountiful Basket early again (ok 7am is kinda early for me on a weekend).  So we ventured off to get our surprise basket.  We were all still so sore from Friday so after that we bummed it on the couch. 

Sunday: Absolutely nothing! The way I like it! Our cat pretty much sums it up here...

Orange State Here We Come!

Well...that is kind of a maybe-but more yes than no. We made the decision last night that next summer we will be venturing to Jacksonville, Florida. I feel it is a much needed change for my family. Last night we went to Olive Garden for our date night.  We talked and we wound up talking about which Florida University team we would support.  Our waitor just happened to over hear us and asked why we were talking about Florida.  We explained and he piped up and said he just moved here from Orlando! He didnt want to move here and he loves Florida! So we talked up a storm with him...but what a sign huh?

There were a lot of factors towards moving and very little towards not. However the factors that weighed against not moving were HUGE factors. So, as long as we can work those kinks out (which I don't feel will be a problem, just some work) we will be Florida bound!

We chose Jacksonville for a lot of reasons as well.  Work there is easy to find (for me at least).  Shon might be a chore, but I am blessed with a sister who works in HR and works with recruiters to help people find jobs...oh and she lives in Florida! See it adding up? Jacksonville is a city about oh just minutes from the beach and totally affordable (eh hem...meaning MUCH cheaper than Utah!).  We will be living about 30 minutes from my parents who just bought a house in St. Augustine. 

I am so excited and SO ready for a change.  I am ready to be closer to my side of the family and to be able to spend more time with my sister!  Too many years being apart!

So let's hope everything works out and in about a year or more we are packing up and heading out of the Beehive State!

Reflections of Ashton...

So for some reason I was blessed to have 3 boys with birthdays within a 2 week span.  I know, lucky me right? 

Ashton has taught me a lot about motherhood.  He was just about 2 when Shon and I got married.  He has a really hard time coming around.  I was the stranger that was with daddy for a very long time.  It wasn't until he was about 4 when he really started to get comfortable. 
I still have the evil step-mother mole on my face with him sometimes.  He definitely tests all of our parental skills when he tries to work both sides against each other. 

He has turned out to be the best big brother to David and Jordan that I could have asked for.  He is very protective of them and is always wanting to teach them something new that he knows. 

So now Ashton is the big 1-0! I told him he is SO old cause now he has a double digit age! He just laughs and told me at least he isn't tappin on the door for 30 (like me).  What a smarty pants!

8 years with my little Ashton who sparked the reason why I wanted to be a mom after all.   Thank you Ashton for being my son.  I love you and I am excited for many more birthdays with you and your brothers!