This is a repost of our first blog post. For those who may be joining up for the first time (long-lost cousins :) - here we are....

History Lesson 1:

for beginners; those who don't already know the story

This family of ours all started 10 years ago (acutally 11, but as Greg and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary, we will start then).

Greg was 26 .... I was 19. My mom, his mom and a family friend thought we should meet. Admitedly, I was not impressed with him at first . . . he arrived for our date 15 minutes early. Anyone who knows my family knows that we were never on time for anything (Greg changed that attribute of mine in a hurry). Well, he really was the perfect one for me so we decided to get married. Ten short years and here we are!

Okay, moving on

History Lesson 2:

Two years after we were married, Calvin Luke was born. Shall I toot my own horn and let you all know that Calvin came into this world weighing 10 lbs, 5 oz. He was BIG. And so was I. I gained 41 pounds with that pregnancy (though to confess, I was a tad underweight to begin with - so I don't feel guilty about that weight gain at all).

Three years after that, Joshua Lynnel was born. Rivaling Calvin in weight, Josh weighed 10 lbs, 2 oz.

Five long years after that, Olivia Marie was born. This May, our petite little thing broke our line-backer tradition by weighing only 8 lbs, 11 oz. I gained 16 pounds with her, and lost it very quickly after she was born . . . but I think I might be putting some of it back on already! Yikes.

History Lesson 3:

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our ministry is a lay ministry, which means that our leaders do not get paid for their time. Our Sunday School teachers, pianists, organists, etc . . . all volunteer time. That being said, Greg is in the bishopric (leadership of our congregation), and will probably be there for another few years. That keeps him busy . . . which wouldn't be so bad, but Greg is also a firefighter and is gone quite a bit. THAT wouldn't be so bad, but he also has a second job (during the summer when he also cuts grass, he has three jobs). We see him on rare occassion. Being a single mom is interesting. More stories to follow.

I am involved with PTA (not as much as I was last year, but still involved), am room parent for both boy's classes at school, coordinate Visiting Teaching for church, teach Sunday School (though that will change soon, I think), am taking Spanish lessons, am learning how to make bracelets, and am far too behind on my scrapbooking to even think about it. I shuttle Calvin to Scouts, take Josh to soccer practice and to his games. Now that I am blogging, I have yet another project on my plate. What am I thinking? Needless to say, we stay busy. All by choice. :)

Now that you are up-to-speed on our life, we can begin with the fun stuff...