Noe Newsflash

Happy Anniversary Darin and Jo! 4 years and counting!!!

2011-03-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to all the loving and supportive friends and family who have helped make the last 4 years great. Those that came to Vegas to celebrate with us, and those that watched online. We love and appreciate all of you! I can't for the life of me get anything to load, I was really trying to put our wedding video on here, but it keeps throwing errors, and the computer also won't load pics of our special day. Oh well, know that were happy, and had a great day! And today, we are still so very much in love!

Darin and BettyJo Noe 3/10/07

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

On this Valentine's day I wanted to take the opportunity to publicly tell my amazing husband Darin just how wonderful I think he is! For all the many things you do for us, for all the late nights, and all the time you spend trying to make sure I'm happy, comfortable, or having a good time. Thank you babe, from the bottom of my heart! I love you so very much, and I'm proud to be your wife. And so for this Valentine's day and for many more to come, Happy Valentine's day to an amazing husband!

I love you Darin!!!

Our wedding day. March 10, 2007

Dating- Oct. 1, 2006

Cabin Fever Benefit

2011-02-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a benefit called Cabin Fever. This is an annual benefit here in Dickinson. And all the proceeds go the Ronald Mcdonald house. Last year we donated some Scentsy baskets for the auctions, but couldn't make it to the benefit. We donated some Scentsy baskets this year as well, and were able to attend. We had a great time and enjoyed a night out. We walked away with a Coca-Cola Monopoly game, a two drawer filing cabinet made by a local company here in town, and a beautiful matted and framed print that we both really liked. We are proud to say that not only did Jo's Scentsy business donate product to the auctions, but with Jo's Scentsy commissions, we were able to purchase these items, and donate to a great cause. And so to all of our customer's who purchase Scentsy from us, please know that without you we wouldn't have been able to donate to this great cause. Thank you all for helping us!
Here is a picture of the print we brought home. It's called Flowers for mom, by Tim Cox

Scentsy Spring Sprint 2011

2011-02-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

Spring Sprint training, is where Scentsy comes to it's Consultant's. This year they did a Northern tour and a Southern tour with a stop in Canada, and Peurto Rico. The training was amazing as usual, and totally got us all motivated. And then of course we got to see some of the new product line coming out next month, and that was awesome! Here are few pictures from our training!

Jo & Jessica

Darin and Jo

Weekend in Minneapolis

2011-02-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to travel to Minneapolis. We went for Scentsy's Sprint Sprint training, stayed with Darin's cousin and his family, who are amazing by the way. Since we were so close, his family decided to make the 4 hour trek to see us. They brought with them a surprise of Darin's Grandma Blad, and his Aunt Char. It was really nice to hang out with the Noe part of our family. Jo was able to visit with and get to know some of Darin's cousins, which was great!

Darin & Jo with Darin's family.

Darin with his siblings, Dana & Derek and their Grandma Blad.

Some of the Noe cousins and their spouses.

A lil work, and a prize earned.

2011-01-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I announced that I had earned a prize from Scentsy. I was excited that I got to choose what I got, and to be completely honest it wasn't that hard to win the prize. When in Direct Selling years ago, every prize or trip always seemed to unattainable, well Scentsy being the amazing company that it is made it different and totally achievable for it's Consultants. In order to earn a prize with this contest, you had to sell at least $400.00 for 4 months straight. There were 3 levels of prizes, if you sold the minimum $400.00 you got to select prizes from Room 1, which were about $100.00 in value, level 2 was to sell $1000.00 each month and those prizes were valued at $400.00, and level 3 was $2500.00 each month for a prize valued at $1000.00. I came close to reaching level 3, but ended up with level 2. I had a hard time choosing between a Cricut Expression and a Netbook. I finally choose the Cricut Expression. Around the same time that the prizes started shipping out we ended up moving, then with the Holidays and such, things got crazy. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I contacted our Consultant support line about having not ever receiving my award. The were so quick to rectify my problem and even helped me out a bit. I had since changed my mind and realized what I knew but didn't want to admit, I wouldn't really use a Cricut Expression. So I asked if since my shipment had been lost if I could switch, they allowed me to and walla, less than a week of me calling, I have my award, I'm pretty excited to start using it, and although it may not get used daily, I think it will definately come in handy for us. It'll be great on trips and to take to shows and things. Plus, when we do need an extra computer at home. I'm totally stoked about it, and just had to share once again, that I am so glad that 3 years ago, I choose to be a part of this company. I only wish I hadn't waited so long to join, I should have just done it when I first realized it and no been so worried about it. I am also happy to report, that I am right on track to win the Magical Memories trip that Scentsy has going right now. And, I did earn the cruise to the Bahama's but wasn't able to take advantage of that, next time for sure!!!

For all of you that have supported me and helped me reach my goals with this company, both team members and customers alike I truly appreciate all you do and have done. It is because of you that I get to 1- Enjoy my job, and 2- Brag about winning fun, neat prizes like this. Check out my new toy!

Netbook just out of the box.

The Netbook all fired up.

Not at all planned, but feels right!

2011-01-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, we heard of a cute lil dog that was in need of a new home, we both just fell in love with his lil face, and when Darin called the owner to see if they had found a home for their lil' guy yet, the answer was no, he asked if they would be willing to come to our house to meet with both of us and the other dogs, and go from there. They agreed, feeling the urgency of their situation, and brought him over last Monday night. He came in a lil nervous, but warmed up very quickly to all four of us. It was pretty evident that he fit right in. We welcomed him into our home, with the agreement that the previous owners would come and visit, dog sit for us on occasion, and stay in touch. They loaded us up with all of his toys, treats, outfits, and rawhides. Instructions on what he likes, dislikes and such were given. They shared a tearful goodbye with their friend, and left. Alas, we now have a new furry four legged child in our home, meet Spots, a Chug, part Chihuahua, and part pug. Spots is very loving, caring, and oh so mild mannered. He minds his manners, and listens so very well. He was house-trained and quickly adjusted and learned to love the door that allowed him the freedom to come and go as he pleases. He is a lil cuddle bug, that loves to get in close and snuggle. His bark is not heard often, only when a guest comes in and soon as they say Hello, and he feels the threat is over, he is done. He joins Scotty, and Barkley in begging for table food, but doesn't enjoy their style of playing. He isn't really too into tug like they are, and unless it's one of his favorite toys, he refuses to participate. He does however LOVE to play fetch, and is pretty darn good at it.
He fits in well and is a great addition to our Wild Bunch. As previously stated this was in no way a planned event, as we were both insistent that 2 was plenty for us, who knows, sometimes things are just right and we think Spots is where he needs to be right now. Scotty and Barkley are enjoying the massive amount of new toys added to their already large collection, and the treats that Spots brought, let's just say, they are all in heaven! Rawhides are treasured in this household, and Spots brought quite a few with him. Enjoy a few pics of our newest addition!

Spots full view

Sleepy spots

Spots comin' in the Pet Door.

Barkley & Spots playin'

Scotty & Spots playin'

Spots with his favorite toy, "the hot dog"

New Years Eve

2011-01-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to do this post, but decided I should anyway. For New Year's Eve this year, Darin had to work at his part time job as a Taxi Driver until 11, Jo went to a party hosted by a few friends, and when Darin got off work, he joined the party. These pictures were taken as we celebrated the clock striking into the New Year! It was a good time had by all, and for the record, in case Darin tells you this story, he isn't lieing, there was some dancing to Just Dance on the Wii, and somewho there ended up being some footage of this so called Dancing. Those pictures however will not make the blog, as Jo is the main poster on the blog, and not about to send you to the ER from hysterical Laughing from them. It's bad enough they ended up with us tagged on Facebook! Enjoy, and again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

As we reflect on this past year of 2010. I can't say it was a great year. Sure, there was good times had, and some great memories made. But there was definately some rough days mixed in there, some tears shed, some big decisions made, and some serious prayers said, not all those prayers have been answered as of yet. However, we will Raise our Glass and wave Goodbye to 2010 with a smile. Won't lie in saying, not sure it will be missed to much, but when we do think of it, we'll do our best to remember both the good and bad and not dwell to much on either.

As we welcome 2011, the future looks bright, and we'll do what we can to keep smiling. We've got more heartaches to come and more memories to make and more prayers to say, but we are convinced that together we can accomplish what lies ahead of us.

We wish each of you a Happy New Year! May you all share in our good times, our memories, our prayers, and yes even our tears.
Let's make 2011, great!

Darin & BettyJo Noe

Christmas Dinner 2010

2011-01-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

This year for Christmas we decided to do something a little different. Last year, Christmas for us was rough, it was our first Christmas with no family around, and since Darin had to work for part of the day, it was just a rough day. This year to avoid any loneliness, we decided to host a Christmas Dinner. Of course we can't feed everyone without family on Christmas day, but we were going to attempt to feed a few. We talked to some friends and then posted it on facebook to get other people. Who wants to make a large Christmas Dinner for 2 or 4 people, right? We also decided to add a little gift exchange into the mix just for fun and bring the spirit of Christmas into our lil dinner. Plans came together and it worked out that our Ham and Turkey were donated by a guest who couldn't make it home to Minnesota for Christmas Day, and then we split the rest of the meal with our good friends Justin & Jessica, they brought some, we supplied the rest and cooked. We were telling everyone about it, so as not to have anyone be alone on Christmas Day. The count we were expecting was 12. We ended serving 10, and had a great time visiting and getting to know new people, and old friends even better. We had Ham, Turkey, Mashed Potato's & Gravy, Veggies, Stuffing, Corn & Rice Casserole, Rolls, Fruit Salads, Pumpkin, Chocolate & Apple Pie. It was quite the feast and no one left empty handed or hungry!

We played a little Wii, had fun with out Gift Exchange, and told & heard some great stories. We played some Uno Tilto, and shared some good laughs.

This Christmas will definately hold some better memories for us than the Christmas of 2009.

Gettin' some pie. Chris & Darin

Opening gifts during the Dirty Santa Gift Exchange.

Chris, Darin & Brian visiting

All out of fridge space, so we improvised. Hey, don't judge it worked well, and our Tiger's Blood got slushy!

Table set for 12!

Christmas Morning 2010

2011-01-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Christmas morning we woke up and opened our gifts. We were once again very spoiled by everyone. A run down of some of our great gifts are as follows.
Scotty- Treats- he loves him, all kinds, even the human kinds, his favorite this year was the mini pigs in the blanket from Grandma & Papa Bills. He was also quite fond of the "Duck" that Santa brought him. It doesn't squeek but makes a sort of Duck noise. He loves it!
Barkley- Again loves his treats! He's quite fond of the Snausages that Grandma and Grandpa Noe sent. His favorite toy this year was the non stuffing 2 squeeker Raccoon that Santa brought for him, he drags that poor coon everywhere.
Darin- got a super sweet Cordless Drill (it will come in handy), a nice new jacket, a few T Shirts, a Chicago Bears plaque to hang in his "man cave garage", and a clock he had been eyeing at one of Jo's Craft shows.
Jo- got the Anytime Fitness membership and sessions with a Personal Trainer she had been wanting, a wallet she fell in love with a few days before Christmas, and of course the Eclipse movie from the Twilight Series.

Those are just a few of the gifts we received, as said earlier we were spoiled and that Santa shocks us every year with some great gifts.

Scotty & Barkley enjoying their new "duck" and "raccoon"

All our gifts opened and under the tree.

Our stockings hung with care by the Air Conditioner. We are a chimney free home.

The Tree before we opened our gifts.

And we became a Team.

2011-01-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

We realized the other day that when catching up on the blog that we mentioned about Jo becoming a Director we didn't announce the Team name that was chosen, and how we came about the name. So here's the story.

Jo became a Director late September, in October we announced it and asked her customers and team to submit Team Name ideas. We received quite a few ideas, we went through them and narrowed it down to 5 names, we put those 5 to a vote in early November to the team. After calculating those votes we had a tie, so we contacted both of our immediate families and asked for their votes. We announced the team name in December.

Jo's team is, All Wax Noe Wicks!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-12-24T05:29:00.008-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving, we went to Utah. Due to weather conditions we ended up taking off a day earlier than we had scheduled, good thing to, the drive took us about 18 hours to get there. We had a blast. We relaxed, enjoyed spending with time with friends and family. We had a really nice trip, it was so good to see everyone and spend so much time hanging out and playing around. The drive home took about 14 hrs, because we again hit Snow, but the fun times we had with family, really made the drive worth while. We didn't use a professional photographer, but we did do some family pictures while we were there. Here's just a few.

October Slow down

2010-12-24T05:26:00.002-07:00

For the most part, other than finalizing the move, October was pretty calm in our household, we spent the month putting the new place together, holding Scentsy parties, and working. That's not to say we had free time, with both of us working at least 40 hrs at our Full time jobs, then working our Scentsy business, we stay busy.

Jo's step up with Scentsy!

2010-12-24T05:08:00.002-07:00

As you can read with the posts below, it's an understatement to say that September was a busy month for us. But adding to our crazy month, is Jo's advancement in her Scentsy business. That's right, Jo's goal of becoming a Director with Scentsy, happened. If you ask her she'll tell you that she's shocked it happened when it did. She did a party Sept 1, then stepped back for the move and all the craziness going on didn't work her business the way she normally does during that month. Needless to say, each month since then the numbers have steadily increased.

In the past year we have gone from a team of about 12, to now 34. We range in different states from North Dakota, Utah, Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Montana, New Jersey, New York and California. We have some amazing Team Members on the team, and if you ask, they make being a Director not only fun and rewarding, but easy. We love hearing from them, and helping them in their Scentsy journey's.

A common question is what does being a Director entail for Jo, well it basically means that she has a team of people that has joined the Scentsy business under her. She helps them know the business and reach the goals they set for themselves. She gives out challenges to help each of them better themselves, which in turn makes them more money. In order to maintain her Director status, the team has to sell at least $10,000.00 in Scentsy products each month. And of course, you want to keep building the team bigger, because you then it's easier to reach those goals. She prepares a Team Newsletter for the team each month, and is always answering emails and phone call questions from the team. We are so very lucky, that most of Jo's team have become like extended family for us. We get to share in their excitement and help them when they need it. Jo loves being a Director and Darin loves being a Director's wife.

Jo has been hoping to make Director status for quite sometime but was always so afraid to say it, or put the goal on paper, well, back in July right after Convention some girls from her team asked her, you are always asking us for our goals, and you help us reach them, what are your goals to help you. She announced her goal to the team in August, and wouldn't you know that in September we did it! Amazing what team work does!

Darin's new venture

2010-12-24T04:57:00.002-07:00

Just a couple of weeks before the "big move" Darin had been offered a new job with a company called Dickinson Ready Mix, he took the job and during his first week we got the word to move, so unfortunatetly the excitement of his new job was moved to the shadows while we moved. But, here's the lowdown on his new job.

Off every Sunday, this is great not only for church, which we don't attend as we should, but this means that we both have a guarentee'd day off together each week!

Hours can vary but they are pretty regular from 5:30am-7:30pm M-F, each day is different but those are about the earliest and latest. And on Saturday 5:30am-12:00pm

He now drives a Concrete truck, and stays pretty local delivering "Ready Mix", or Concrete. He gets pretty excited now when we are driving around, telling me he poured that sidewalk, that driveway, those footings, or that foundation. He is also learning the roads of Dickinson, and actually enjoys driving around town again.

Due to the weather restrictions on his job, he will be laid off during the Winter months, usually about Christmas or just after, until about March or April depending on weather. Jo is of course a lil nervous about this, but since Darin enjoys the job, and we get to spend a lot more time together we'll take it as it comes.

A house into a Home!

2010-12-24T04:22:00.011-07:00

When we found out we had to move, it was about 4:30pm on a Wednesday, we were FURIOUS to say the least, then we slipped into a panic mode of what are we going to do, there is a MAJOR housing shortage in Dickinson and the prices are outrageous!!! On Friday, after panicking and dealing with it, we posted on Facebook our situation and on Sat late morning, we received a phone call from a friend here in town. A coworker/friend of hers had just purchased a house and although it wasn't really ready to rent, our friend had told them our predicament and they wanted to show us their place and talk. We met with them on Saturday afternoon, and when we left, we knew all would be ok. We weighed out the options of waiting to see some other rentals becoming available or just going with this one. We prayed and thought about it, and the answer seemed pretty clear. So here we are, our landlords are simply amazing people! They are so sweet, and rushed with everything they wanted to do so we could move in quickly. They offered to help us move, and have been absolutely awesome to work with.

Our rent did go up quite a bit, but we should note that we feel we are being charged a pretty fair price for our place. Some 2 bedroom apartments are charging more than what we pay right now. When it was all said and done, we received the notice to move on Sept 9, and we were completely out and getting settled in our new place by Oct. 5. Can we say a crazy few weeks!

During this time, we really questioned our decision to move so far from any family, but going through it and after we realized again that we made the right decision. We had so many friends help us through the move, during the move and get settled. In the short year that we have been here, we have been so touched and so blessed by the amazing people we have been able to meet, and get to know. We can't imagine our lives without them.

A not so great picture of the garage, and most of the house. Very different layout. The door with the wreath on it, is our front door, you walk in and enter our garage, go around the corner and there are the stairs to climb and enter the house. Those stairs are in the middle of the house, so it makes a complete circle all the way around. Confusing, I know. Come visit, it'll make better sense!

The other half of the kitchen. Surprisingly for it's size, we have decent counterspace, and cupboard/drawer space is pretty good to.

The appliance half of the kitchen.

The Guest bedroom. Please note this was before any decorating in this room had been done, and it was still sort of the catch all room. Yes, the carpet is a nasty green shag. It's the only room in the house with the ugly carpet. Just adds character!

Of course, our home would not be complete without our Scentsy Office.

Master bedroom, there is a bathroom with shower only just off this room. Great size!

The living room. There is a deck, and then downstairs we have it all fenced in for the dogs. Also, please notice our make shift pet door. This way the Patio door closes, and the dogs can still be free to roam in and out. We have no messes with out Pet Door trained "kids"

The Dining Room, which also had a lil nook that is the very small laundry room.

The Move!

2010-11-14T21:35:00.002-07:00

I'm going to make this very long story short and say that the people we have been renting from since moving to Dickinson last year, have been renting to us illegaly, so we have to move. So as we celebrate our First Year here in Dickinson, North Dakota we celebrate it moving to a new place.

This causes stress because housing here is in very short supply and very very pricey. We got really lucky and a friend seen our plea for help on Facebook and was knew someone who was had just bought a Condo to rent out. We were in luck, such a sweet couple and more than willing to rent to us and let us begin moving in so quickly. We had some great help from the branch here and from some amazing friends. We were so nervous about the move but everyone really came through for us.

We have been so blessed this past couple of months and during this season of gratitude we are so very Thankful for all that has been given to us.

To all our friends that came through and helped us move, we owe you big and we plan to repay you. THANK YOU!!!

Stay tuned for pictures of the new place, coming soon.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-11-14T21:17:00.006-07:00

I'm going to make these posts short and sweet, as we are soo far behind in not only posting to our blog, but keeping up with all our friends blogs as well. Sorry, I'll try to do better.

So this year for Labor Day we were both off work and got to spend the entire 3 days together. That hasn't happened in awhile. We decided to take the dogs and a friend that Darin works with named Chris for a ride to the North end of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We seen soo many buffalo it was crazy. Chris and I got out and got really close to them a few times, made Darin super nervous. Other than that we just lounged around and enjoyed a few days off together, nothing special. Here's a few pics of our journey to enjoy.

This one was from the car. We ended up stopping for them for a few but, we literally could have reached out the window and touched them passing by the car.

We stopped to watch another herd and Chris and Jo got out of the vehicle to get a better view, Chris ended up stepping in well something not so pleasant and Jo made him clean his shoes before he could get back in the car with us. But here is a shot of Chris getting up close. And yes, Darin was freaking out!

This is just about as Mountainous as it gets here in North Dakota!

This is a herd just hangin out in the picnic area, they were so calm, we dared to get really close.

Catching up!

2010-10-31T20:38:00.002-06:00

Please bear with these next few posts as we catch you up on our life recently and our crazy schedules.

INTENSITY 2010 (Scentsy Convention)

2010-08-21T19:35:00.008-06:00

Scentsy Convention this year was yet again, AMAZING! They brought in a great keynote speaker, Amanda Gore, who reminded us to be positive and be a better person, and love those around us! We were reminded again what an AMAZING company we are apart of. Heidi, Scentsy's president spoke of Generousity! And Orville, Scentsy's CEO spoke about getting back to Simplicity, and keeping it Simple. Even with just over 6,000 Consultant's in attendance we were able to bring a lot of new product home with us in Giveaways. We again were touched by Heidi and Orville bringing their entire family into Convention and including their kids in the unveiling of some products.

We are so excited for what the next year will bring to us with this business. We have set new goals for ourselves and we can't wait to reach them. We feel so fortunate to have the team that we do. They are so supportive of our goals, and have goals of their own that are great! We have a great group, and we love being in their lives and having them be apart of ours. We are on the grow, and we couldn't be prouder of our small circle. We LOVE watching it grow! We are sure our Scentsy team is the Best out there! zoot zoot zoot to each of you!
We are currently on the search for a team name, any suggestions?

Here are few pics of Convention, the group of us that made it to Denver. If you look really hard on the Team pictures, I'm pretty sure you'll see the spirits of those that couldn't join us. We know they were with us in Spirit! ;)

So, we are on continuing on with our Scentsy journey, hope it finds you in our future, it's gonna be INTENSE!!!

Wait till next year, we'll be coming at you from Fort Worth, Texas!

SCENTSY SPIRIT!!!!!!!!!!

Darin & BettyJo (from ND),Justin & Jessica (from ND), Dorothy (from NC) & Amber (from UT)

Another Team Picture with Darin. Jessica, Jo, Amber, Dorothy, Darin

Waiting for General Session to start. Jessica, Jo, Dorothy, Amber

Team Pic with our Superstar Director. Jessica, Amber, Dorothy, Lisa, BettyJo

Jo with the Signature board. You can't see but we signed just above her head.

The Convention stage.

Denver or Bust!

2010-08-21T18:58:00.005-06:00

So a couple of weeks ago, Darin and I went to Denver for Scentsy Convention 2010! We decided to drive their, and and enjoyed the time together. We had a very busy couple of days while there, and got tons of information, made some great new friends and lost some sleep. Here's a brief summary of our trip.

We checked into our hotel, relaxed for about 15 minutes, me walked the 5 or so blocks to the Convention Center to register, and then headed to our Team meeting, and the Scentsy Tailgate party! The next day we enjoyed the sessions and breakout sessions offered by Scentsy, go TONS of product and seen what Scentsy is bringing up for the Fall/Winter season. Our Superstar director took us all to Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, yummy! We then went to the Scentsy Success PJ party, played some games, and showed some Scentsy Spirit! On Friday we woke up a little late, so we rushed to more sessions and meetings. After our sessions, we took Jo's team to dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory, another yummy meal. Then we headed back to the Convention Center for the awards ceremony. After the ceremony we took a fun little Bike Taxi ride to Coyote Ugly! Darin and I have been to Coyote Ugly in Vegas, and we had fun, Justin and Jessica who we were hanging out with hadn't been before. It was a very fun night, with some great memories made! On Sat. we went to lunch at Hard Rock Cafe, and headed home. We took our time on the drive home, stopped in New Castle, Wyoming at a quaint lil motel. It was a great Convention! Here's a few pics of our journey!

Darin and Jo just outside Old Spaghetti Factory.

Darin and Jo first night in Denver.

Coors Field. Darin loved this and was so excited.

Our Exit to Downtown Denver.

A great gift!

2010-07-25T16:40:00.004-06:00

I was given a totally awesome Birthday gift this past week. Due to my visit from Strep Throat our get together with a couple of friends had to be postponed, well, one of those friends decided to visit and brought me my Birthday Gift! I absolutely LOVE it! It is of course, Purple and Green. Which some of you may not know are not only Scentsy colors, but my two Favorite colors, as well.

Liz is the friend that made me this awesome, homemade gift. She is so very creative and crafty, that it too her, I think she said 2 days to make in her spare time, and she dreamed up the pattern and design. She does awesome work doesn't she? She has signed up to do a Craft show this November. If your interested in more information, let me know, I will get you her information! Darin and I had her make a Hat & Scarff set at Christmas for a gift, it was a huge hit!

On a side note, I am feeling much better, and although Strep kicked my butt, I am still a little week, but definately getting back to my old self. Now, to get caught up. Darin and I are super excited, we leave for Denver, Colorado on Tuesday for Scentsy Convention. We will be back in North Dakota on Sun. Can't wait to tell you all about Convention and the fun and exciting things Scentsy has in store for us, this year!

Love to all!

My cute new purse, filled with all my goods!

Back of purse.

The front of my cute new purse!

A great day and a not so great weekend!

2010-07-17T17:34:00.004-06:00

Just wanted to Thank everyone that I heard from on my Birthday! I have finally gotten around to responding to all of your FB posts, Text messages, and phone calls. I'm a little slow on the phone calls, that was part of my plan for last night, until I ended up with no voice and not being able to keep my eyes open. Story later in the post!

Anywho, I had a great day on Tuesday, and didn't even mind that I had to work. It started early with the texts, and I must say my sister was so proud she was the first text, Thanks sis! I went to work and was spoiled rotten with Cheesecake, Reese's Cake, (do ya think they know I love Chocolate?), I was also given a Maurices Gift card, those girls know me so well! After work, I did some Scentsy deliveries, went to my weight class, then did Dinner with Darin, who finally allowed me to open the Ipod he had engraved for me, (it's a replacement for my ipod that died a few months ago) He had it engraved with a sweet Happy Birthday message. We didn't get home until about 9:30 or that night. We then opened cards, and packages I had received. Let's just say, I have AMAZING people in my life, and love each of you so much! This past year, and with this move, I have really learned who I can really count on, and you all know you are. Thank you for being there with my tear filled phone conversations, venting sessions, and emotional outbursts! I promise that when you need me, I WILL be there for each of you!

I had so many FB posts, Texts, and emails to catch up with, if you didn't hear back from me, please know that I am not ignoring you, I must not have received it.

I appreciate all of you for your thoughts, and wishes! You made me feel so loved and cared about on my Birthday, that's what I think a Birthday should be about.

Now, I promised you a story about Friday night, I'll make it short. I haven't been sleeping well this past week and thought I was feeling all emotional and tired because of lack of sleep, but it just kept getting worse. By Friday afternoon, I had no voice, and felt horrible. I came home to lay around and rest. Darin sent me to bed early and all doped up on NyQuil. I woke this morning, feeling worse and with even less of a voice. I showered hoping for a better feeling and knew right away it wasn't coming. I figured it was too late to get into the Clinic, since it was about 11 already, but what the heck I tried. They took pity on me, and the Dr allowed me to be seen, I went right in, and was told it looks just like all the other cases of Strep they are seeing, so they are treating it like it is Strep, but took a swab to make sure. So, I had plans of getting things ready for our Denver trip the end of this month, this weekend, but since I can't make it off the couch or out of bed without getting dizzy, there is no need to worry, I am following Dr's orders and resting with plenty of liquids! Really, Strep throat in July!!! Seriously!?!?! This bites!

That's what's new here!

Scentsy Special, and Happy Birthday Jo!!!

2010-07-12T21:48:00.005-06:00

Being today is Jo's Birthday, we have created a way for everyone to Celebrate with us, and of course, we are adding some AWESOME Scentsy Specials! If you leave a comment here on the blog, you will receive 5% off your order placed on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. Wanna know more about the special, leave your email in your comment, or email us at darinandjo@yahoo.com and we'll make sure you get the email!

We would love to hear the stories or memories you have of yourself and Jo!

Happy birthday Jo!!!!

Happy commenting!

Our journey to having a baby!

2010-06-27T09:23:00.003-06:00

I'm going to warn you now, before this post goes any further. You are going to be reading into something that is VERY personal, and you may just get to much information. Some of you may be offended, some of you may understand, some of you may try to understand, for our benefit please whatever you do, DON'T tell us that you understand our pain, it truly doesn't help our situation at all. Another warning is this will probably be a very long post, as it is a post that we struggle with daily, and we have yet to give out each and every detail as we are going to now! And so it begins...

After being married for under a year, we headed to the Dr for a yearly exam on Jo, we went together even though Darin was not excited for the venture. We were also going to discuss with the Dr why we can't seem to get pregnant on our own! The day came and went and with it came an order for a Semen Analysis for Darin, he did the test and the results came back that it couldn't be properly tested for one reason or another. At this point we were referred to a Fertility Dr in SLC, we made our appointment and then made the 4 hr drive to it. We performed another Semen Analysis the same day as our consultation and got the results while we were there. There should be millions of little sperm in one small sampling, and Darin had a wopping 20 live mobile sperm! We were also informed that Darin's testosterine levels were incredibly low, and this would be why his energey levels were so low etc.
We were then told that he had a Varicaseal on his testicle, and this could be fixed quite simply, and may solve our entire issue. Off we went to the Uroligist in Provo. We met with him once and scheduled the surgery, it was supposed to be an easy in and out procedure, so the very next day Jo was scheduled to have a bothersome tooth pulled at a Dentist specialist down the road. Good thing, we have wise and loving parents who not only know what's best for us, but fight for it as well. Nothing went according to plan. We left early in the morning for the surgery to Provo, Jo, Darin, and Jo's dad. Darin was taken into surgery, and after about double the time we had been told he'd be in, the Dr came out to discuss. They had found a hernia as well, and in repairing the hernia, the testicle in question was without blood for quite a long time. The chance that he would lose the testicle was higher that originally thought. Darin had a rough time coming out of the surgery and they kept him overnight. The next morning a quick visit to the hospital, and Jo was rushed off to have her tooth extracted. After that procedure it was back to the hospital to pick up the waiting and in pain Darin. At this point, we were so thankful Jo's dad had insisted on escorting us for this endeavor, because we both slept through the entire trip home. What was supposed to be a quick maybe 2 days off, was a full 6 week recovery time.
Then the waiting began, a full 6 months of waiting to let the surgery work and run it's course.
We went back to the fertility Dr for another Semen Analysis and was told that Darin had in fact lost a testicle, but no worries, you only need one to get a baby! The count had stayed about the same, no major changes. So we met with a nurse to go over the entire In-Vetro process! Although we both had insurance the entire process would not be covered. HOW? WHAT? WHEN? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? This all went through our minds. How do you come with this kind of money, and up front as well? What are these technical terms this woman keeps saying? When can all of this happen, we so desperately want a baby? What are we going to do, are we going to be able to pull this off? Off we went, totally overwhelmed with information, and lost in our own thoughts of dispair, and not sure how to really talk about it with each other, let alone others.
In figuring out the money part of our situation, Jo started to have some health problems, and was seeing Dr after Dr trying to get it all figured out. Basically it was problem after problem, struggle after struggle! Very frustrating! However, we trudged on through the problems, because we both believe that things happen for a reason, when they are supposed to happen.
When we made the move to North Dakota, we both felt so strongly that it was where we were supposed to be, so off we went. We both have good jobs with Insurance. Jo's employers are incredibly supportive of helping us with the issues, that they have said they will help out with days off for the Dr's visits, time off for the procedure's and so on, which has helped incredibly since it is a travel to the nearest Dr, and there is so much involved.
At the beginning of May we had our appointment for another yearly for Jo, again we both went to talk about the fertility and get some insight and opinions. The dr referred us to a Fertility clinic in Fargo, who meets with patients in Bismark. We got our appointment set up, and off we went to Bismark for the afternoon. We were ecstatic to feel completely at ease with this Dr, and as he talked about the process and listened to our concerns, we felt this was it, it was time! It had been some time since Darin's last Semen Analysis, so the Dr wanted this repeated, as well as a class about In-Vetro at his clinic and so forth. We got scheduled for the next available date and went to Fargo (a 4 hr drive) for both. We felt so strongly that this was our time, we got all the insurance information taken care of, and we learned that it was going to be covered by both companies, we of course couldn't be happier about this news. On the way back to Dickinson from Fargo, we received a phone call from Dr. Christensen (our new fertility Dr), it's never a good thing when the Dr himself calls, right? Well, it wasn't good news. Darin's test had come back with NO live sperm, initially this meant that he couldn't be the donor. However, the Dr felt strongly about some other tests being performed and Darin's bloodwork being ran as well. He'd call us back shortly with more results. This was on a Thursday, and we had a very agonizing weekend before we heard from him again. It's official, there is no longer a count for Darin, the Dr has spoken with yet another Uroligist and together they feel very strongly that a Byopsy of the Testicle is needed and the sooner the better. The good news is, the Testosterone levels are back up in the normal range, however Darin is still having some severe symptoms of low testosterone, which they can't treat until we know more about the sperm count. The Dr has discontinued Darin's medication, as it may be counteracting the count, by bringing up the levels. Another 4-6 weeks to know if it's changing things!
We are in the process of making this appointment, and are waiting for a phone call back from the Uroligist. Some of you, like us may be wondering what exactly will be byopsied, and what it will tell them, let us explain. Darin will be put to sleep, and they will take a sample directly from the Testicle, this will then be analyzed to see if there is any sperm there. Basically, if his body is making Sperm. If they find it, there is a blockage somewhere, if not Darin fathering children has become a Dream not a goal.
We had very high hopes of not involving our family in this process, not because of how wonderfully supportive they all are, but because we wanted to be able to surprise everyone with, GUESS WHAT!!!! We have decided that with this added difficulty we need all the support we can get. We are trying to stay positive, and we both know that there is still the possibility of Donor Eggs usage, or Adoption. Both of which is not something that we consider to be ideal for us. We wanted the chance to have a baby together, a baby that is both of ours. Don't get me wrong, both of these instances would give us a child that we would treasure and love deeply, but when your goal has always been to be a parent, you feel as though a part of you is being taken away with the knowledge we have just been given.
As we stated before, we have tried so hard to remain positive and upbeat about this entire process. As Jo likes to say, we are being thrown this for a reason, let's make the most of it and run! However the unknown that lay ahead of us right now is proving to be very trying. The thought of being let down over and over with adoption, or not knowing the person that donated an egg to us is very scary. It gets hard also, when we hear the wonderful news of our friends having babies, again, don't get us wrong, it's so exciting and we wouldn't dream of holding it against you or having ill feelings about it. But, we do continue to ask, why it must be so hard?!?!?!
We are not looking for your sympathy, your understanding (unless you've been through this process you can't possibly comprehend it.) We are however asking for you to keep our situation in your thoughts, your prayers and in the back of your mind, when you meet someone without children, please don't let your first question be, why you don't have kids? or when will you begin your family?
Infertility is very common and through this process we have learned of quite a few people who have conceived using In-Vetro, this however doesn't mean it's easy to deal with or talk about!
We plan to keep you updated on our journey as best we can, please be patient with us, and this news came to us about two weeks, and our closest family just found out late this week. It takes time for us to digest and come to terms with the information we are given before we can even dream of spreading it.

All our love!

Visitors from Utah Day 4

2010-06-26T13:55:00.010-06:00

Day 4 of the visit to North Dakota, was spent relaxing. Jo and Darin went back to work, so everyone else just relaxed and went around town. For dinner we had a Barbeque, visited, then off to bed. Tuesday morning as Jo went to work, she said goodbye to her Parents, and Korbin. We had a great visit, and wasn't really ready for them to head home. Jo's fears of Korbin forgetting her were quickly subsided by the smile on his face when he seen her and the fact that he went right to her and gave her a big hug & kiss. He was pretty lovey with her the whole trip, which she of course loved and ate up. Although, the visit wasn't for long, a good time was had by all!

They left North Dakota on Tuesday, and made their way to South Dakota, to Mt Rushmore, and a few other stops along their way. They are now back in Utah safe and sound. Here a few miscellaneous pics from the visit!

Another loving morning. Korbin and Aunt B

Korbin doing his Cartwheels

Korbin and Aunt B. He was feeling very lovey this morning.

Korbin & Aunt B

Jo and her Dad

Darin and Mom Bills

Although a very unflattering picture, it's the only one we got of Jo and her mom.

Visitors from Utah, Day 3

2010-06-26T13:37:00.006-06:00

Day 3 of the visit was also Fathers Day. We took Jo's dad to a Fathers Day brunch then we went to the Carnival that was in town for the weekend. Korbin had a blast, even though it was past naptime and he was really tired, he did great! He picked out his rides and which order. We bought him and Jo a wristband to go on whatever rides he wanted. He choose the Carousel first and both Darin and Jo went on the ride with him, next he wanted to drive the cars, then he insisted on going on the Dragon Roller coaster for kids. We tried to talk him out of it because it looked to be a little too much for him, but when he gets his mind set on something that's it! After that he was afraid of everything. To help get him back into it we did the Ferris Wheel, that was all it took, he then wanted to try all the rides! We choose to do the tiltabears next, then the Tiltawhirl, which he LOVED and had to do twice! After that Darin and Jo did a ride on their own, and then we walked through the crazy house, which he didn't love again. After that we decided to grab a snow cone and head home. Korbin didn't make it to far before he was out! We all came home and took a nap and enjoyed the rest of the day together. Another long tiring day, but the weather was in our favor and we had some fun! Here are a few of the pictures we captured of our Carnival fun!

Korbin and Uncle D on the Carousel.

Korbin driving on the Cars.

Korbin on the Dragon Roller Coaster.

Korbin & Aunt B on the Ferris Wheel.

Darin and Jo on the ride Jo wanted to go on. It went up and did a circle. Super Fun!

Visitors from Utah Day 2

2010-06-26T12:59:00.006-06:00

Day 2 of the visit started with breakfast in Belfield, at a fun restaurant called Trappers Kettle, very yummy food. We then drove about 40 miles to Medora ND. Medora is a small western town that has some fun stops/stores in it. We made it to town just in time to see Joey O's performance. He's a comedian that is very uplifting and from Iowa! After his show we took a drive through the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It is beautiful country, with plenty of wild flowers and wild creatures to be seen. (this is where we went in March where we seen the Buffalo) After the drive we went through the museum and took the tour of one of Roosevelt's cabins. We then went to the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum, then went through a few of Medora's stores. We also stopped by an Ice Cream shop for some Homemade Ice Cream and Fudge. By that time it was time to head to our Dinner and show reservations! We had made reservations at the Pitchfork Steak Fondue restaurant, super good food, great ambiance, and a beautiful view, topped off with a live band. All in the great outdoors. It was awesome. We then walked across the parking lot to the Medora Musical which is an Outdoor Ampitheatre, that has a show playing every night from June 2- Sept 15. This years show is very patriotic and very worth the time and money! The Medora Musical is a play that changes each year, during the intermission, there are different acts that are brought in from everywhere. We got to see an awesome Dog Trainer and her dogs do some pretty neat tricks. It was pretty kewl watching her and knowing she had been on Jay Leno, and David Letterman. That's two performances in one day that had been on these popular shows. Lucky us! At the beginning of the show they invite all the kids down to the stage to do a little dance, of course Korb wanted to go, so Grandma opted to take him down. He loved it and was not a happy camper to have to go back up to our seats. All the kids were given a really cute little Microphone to remember their visit. We had been a little worried that afternoon of our dinner and show being rained out, but the rain cleared out and returned to a beautiful day. Not to warm, not to cold, just perfect! After the show we drove the 40 miles back to Dickinson, and went straight to bed. Saturday was a very long tiring day, but we had oh so much fun!

The Badlands Overlook in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a very pretty drive with lots of wildlife to see.

Sorry if the sight of rare meat grosses you out, but had to show you how they cook it.

The view we had during our yummy dinner. Of to another side was some Elk, and another was the ampitheatre for the Medora Musical.

Korbin thoroughly enjoyed the show, he sat really still like this for pretty much the entire 2 1/2 hrs. This picture happens to be during the dog tricks.

Korbin on stage at the Medora Musical.

Visitor's from Utah Day 1

2010-06-26T10:46:00.013-06:00

Jo's parents and lil nephew came into town last week. They got into town on Thursday afternoon, Jo has an amazing job, that let her leave when they got here. We went to lunch then came home to relax and get settled. When Darin got home from work, we played a game of Phase 10, visited for a bit, then headed off to bed. Friday brought us a beautiful day with lots and lots of WIND. There was probably a steady wind of 50-55 MPH, that doesn't count the gusts. So, with the wind we decided to have breakfast, and take a drive to Regent, ND and show Korbin, Mom & Dad the Enchanted Highway. Off we went. We stopped at each of the displays, but only got out of the car at one of them, the stage coach with horse, Korb wanted to sit in the stage coach. Afterward we came home, mom and Jo made a really yummy Fried Chicken dinner, and we pulled out the Wii and played a few games. Then it was off to bed to prepare ourselves for another long day of touristy fun for Saturday. Here's a few pics of our Friday adventure!

Korbin and Barkley get along great! Korb plays with him so well, and Barkley follows him around like crazy, SOO cute!

Korbin playin Wii Fit, with the help of Grandma, of course!

Korbin, Papa, & Uncle D with the Military tank in Regent.

Korbin with the lil Buffalo at the Gift shop in Regent

Korbin sticking his face in Mama tinman-erwoman, at the gift shop in Regent

All the important men in Jo's life. The story behind the stop sign is that it's short, like Jo's dad, so we convinced him we needed a pic with it. Love you daddy!

A common sight, at the Noe household in North Dakota.

2010-06-13T21:31:00.007-06:00

Barkley sits like this often looking out the window, it's one of his fave spots. Super cute!

Scotty relaxin while Jo is working on some Scentsy orders.

Here are a few pics of the dogs, although they really do play and these pics mainly show them only being lazy. We thought these were just to cute not to share!

Scotty enjoys sleeping on their pillow.

Barkley sleeps like this quite often, and we can't help but laugh. Notice the squeeky toy by his head he was squeeking on it before he conked out, and the bone at the other end, he was enjoying a few minutes beforehand.

Party went great, Thanks to you!

2010-06-13T21:22:00.003-06:00

I wanted to show everyone what I got with all of your orders! Thanks so very much to each of you that took a few minutes out of your busy days, and ordered from my Tupperware Party. I was about $40.00 from the goal I had set for myself, however Thanks to all of your orders I still had a pretty good party. Better luck next time, I guess!

I am in heaven with all of my stuff, and I am thoroughly in love with the Tupperware brand of product.

Anyway your support means a lot to me, and I appreciate all of your orders and friendship! You are all great, I can't wait to get the invites to your parties and such, to return the favor and kindness you have showed to me.

Love you all!

Tupperware Party

2010-05-08T18:22:00.005-06:00

I have a good friend here in Dickinson, that like me just recently moved here. She is trying to build her business here like me, she had a party for me a couple of months ago, and I promised her that I would return the favor. I would like to invite each of you to join in the fun with me. Starting May 15th I will be having a Catalog Tupperware party!

I am so excited for this because every piece of tupperware I have ever seen before has been an amazing quality product, and the tupperware brand of items that I own, are AWESOME! I have flipped through their catalogs and LOVE what I see, I love the colors and styles of their products. Plus the guarentee that they offer with their product, really does it get any better than a Lifetime guarentee?

For those of you who don't know much about Tupperware, your in luck, I don't either, so I'm excited to get some of their product and learn some more. Here is what I can tell you-

- Lifetime guarentee on all products. If your product cannot be replaced you will receive a credit for your item!

- Each order will NOT be charged shipping!!! I think this is awesome, because I know how much that adds. I will pay the extra shipping charges if your order is $25.00 or more, to Thank you for ordering and supporting my party! In short, you won't be charged ANY shipping, no matter where we ship it!!!

- You can reheat Tupperware in the microwave safely!

_ You can use Tupperware in the Freezer as well!

- Tupperware products unless specified are also Dishwasher safe, Hello bonus!!!

I know there's a bunch more to learn, so let's get to it.

To avoid any additional costs I would like to have everyone view online, if however for some reason the site won't work or you need a catalog, please let me know, I will get you one right away!

Cherrie's website is: www.my2.tupperware.com/tastefulycherrie

The special we will be using will be on the site starting May 15, 2010, so don't rush to get me your order before then, they have some AWESOME deals in their flyer, savings up to 55% WOWZA!!!

You can send your orders to me, and I will pass them on to Cherrie and get you a total ASAP, and get you a total! You can pay either me, or give your Credit Card information to Cherrie, whatever is best for you!

The party will go from now, or May 15th- May 26th, 2010.

I look forward to hearing from each of you, and Thank you all in advance for your support!

Happy Tupperware Shopping!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2010-05-08T17:59:00.002-06:00

I have always thought of myself as an unlucky person. Ya know, I don't win more than a $1.00 or 2 when I play a lottery ticket, I don't even try when we go to Vegas, because let's face it, lady luck isn't on my side. I've signed up for raffles and such my whole life and I have very seldom won anything. But I think that there have days in my life when Lady luck was with me. For example, the day I was born, my mother went through a lot to get me here safely, and she succeeded! How lucky was I, that day? And another example of my luck is when Darin asked me to be a part of his family. This meant that I not only got another mother figure in my life, but I was able to take on another Grandmother as well! When I finally get the chance to be a mother, I hope I can follow in your footsteps Mom! Thanks for all that you have done for me, and continue to do. I am so blessed and lucky to have you in my life!

With this weekend being Mother's Day, I would like to tell all of the Mother's I know, that I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day! I cannot wait to be on this journey with each of you and follow your examples.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mom's we know! Have a wonderful day, and enjoy it, you deserve it!!

2010-05-02T09:05:00.004-06:00

For the past month or so the local newspaper has been advertising a Cooking School. After asking around and hearing that's it's vendors set up for you to walk around, then they do presentations at the end of a few recipes showing you tricks and what not. Well, Hello, I totally need that (it's ok to admit I need help in the kitchen, I admit it daily!) Anyway, I convinced a friend to go with me, then Darin decided he wanted to go as well, so we bought out tickets for $10.00 and this past Tuesday we went. I was so excited to go and get some great tips and ideas! We got our lil goodie bags, walked through the booths, and we had about a half hour to wait before the presentation.

The presented 10 yummy & easy recipes. Things like Freezer berry jam, Asparagus Tomato Salad, Jimmy Dean Maple Breakfast Casserole, Orange Chocolate Tart, Mushroom Clafouti, Chicken pot pie, Angel Hair Pasta w/ Chicken & Artichokes, Romaine Caesar Salad, Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins, Zesty penne sausage & peppers. They cooked each dish in front of us and at the end of the show gave them away to someone.

There were TONS of giveaways, Jo won a Free Cookbook! They gave other things away like bags of Groceries, misc baskets from the sponsors, and so on.

We had a fun night, it was a little to long, I wish it had started sooner, so we would have gotten home earlier, towards the end it seemed like it dragged on a bit. but all in all it was some fun good times! I would recomend it to anyone who had the chance to go.

Here's a few pics of our goods!

Our bag of goodies we got when we got the show!

The bag of goodies we each received from the Sponsors. The magazine are filled with yummy recipes!

This is the recipe book that Jo won! 5 ingredients or less, we think this win was fate!!!

The new ride

2010-04-26T18:13:00.007-06:00

We were beginning to have a few problems with the Mountaineer, so we started looking and discussing getting something new a few months ago and we finally found something that we both liked (we are opposites, ya know) and Darin fit comfortably into (darn that height)! This is what we decided on, 2010 Dodge Nitro! We are in heaven and love it! It's very fun to drive. We did lose our third row of seats but having only used them once in over 2 years we aren't too overly concerned about it. We gained Heated seats, Remote Starter, Sunroof, Sirius Radio for a year, Vehicle controlled Hands free phone, and a few other fun features like that. The color is a really pretty blue, but it's also very hard to describe. Isn't it funny how excited we get over something like getting a new car, just love it! For the record, yes, Jo's dad is very disappointed in the Dodge purchase, however he is proud we didn't stoop low enough to buy a Chevy. Darin is overjoyed and bragging about the fact that he didn't have to twist Jo's arm on getting the Dodge, she was a ready and willing participant!

Sweet new ride

The back of the new ride

Hidden storage in the very back

The very back

The front seat

The back seat

Getting to know Barkley

2010-04-11T17:53:00.008-06:00

Our new addition, Barkley is fitting in great! Here are a few things we have learned in the week we've had our lil guy.

- Barkley loves to play, yes we know he is a puppy, but he welcomes any chance he gets to play, and he DOESN'T tire easily.

- Barkley loves attention, and although we are trying to divide it equally between the two, he doesn't understand why.

- Barkley is Darin's dog through and through! He hears Darin's truck coming up the driveway, the excitement begins to build and from there, Darin has a neverending Shadow all evening!

- When he is just sitting his lil teeth poke through his lips kind of like a buck tooth look, and it's simply adorable!

- When he runs he lil ears bounce up and down with his body, and again simply adorable!

- He loves to go on walks, do believe this is his favorite part of the day!

- He loves to wake up about 2am and bark, at what you may ask, well at himself in the mirror on the dresser that he can see when sitting at the foot of the bed.

- For the most part Barkley is potty trained but doesn't love to use the pet door to go outside, we are working at this, and lucky for us, Scotty loves the pet door so he helps with this issue.

- Barkley LOVES squeeky toys, and is not into destroying the squeeker, he does however know how to squeek them.

We are all adjusting well, it's taking a Scotty a bit longer, but he is coming around and enjoying the company. Enjoy a few pics!

Notice the teeth!

Scotty & Barkley sleep together as well!

Scotty & Barkley play together!

We are pretty sure, he has forgotten how small he really is, as he can't even begin to open his mouth big enough to get it around this bone, but he continues to try day in and day out, due to, yep, Scotty does it!

Barkley & his squeeky toy

Darin, Scotty & Barkley. All my boys!

And the name is......

2010-04-05T20:29:00.002-06:00

Thanks for all the input and votes on the name of our newest addition! We are so excited to add him to our family! I will post more pics later but for now wanted to get the word out about the name we chose, and that won the votes!

The winner is.....

Barkley

We got texts and Facebook comments well into the night and throughout the day as well, however we decided this morning that Barkley just fits his little personality, since when I walked out of the bedroom he started barking at me first thing this morning.

He is adjusting to us, and we are learning his personality. Scotty is adjusting well, and although not to keen on the fact that he is very playful, he is doing well with the change!

The pics below are the one most of you seen as a text, it's also the picture that the family we got him from used as their ad. The other is a pic I got with my cell, trying to show you his pretty colors, of white and a honey type brown. The family we got him from was calling him Milo, which we thought was very cute, however it didn't go with our "theme" of the ey ending. Since he didn't respond to it we weren't too worried about changing the name.

He is 20 weeks old, and pretty much full grown! Cute as a button. More to follow.

Barkley sleepin, showin his pretty colors!

Barkley

Gone but not forgotten

2010-03-30T21:16:00.013-06:00

To some this post may seem silly, or absurd, but to us it's very serious. So please, read on, we hope you'll enjoy going over our memories with us, laughing, crying and loving on our Precious lil Karlee.
We got Karlee from a friend in Utah, we thought Scotty needed a friend to spend his days with, we all grew to love her very quickly, and we think the feeling was mutual. With Darin and I having such a hard time getting pregnant, our dogs truly are our children, and now a part of our family is now gone. It's been a week ago today that we lost our lil angel, Karlee. It was a day like every other and when I came home for lunch, I was busy doing other things, then in a hurry to make it back to work on time, the dogs wouldn't come in so like every other nice day so far, I set the dog kennel up in front of the pet door, so Scotty & Karlee could come in and be outside to enjoy the sun. After work, I had errands to run, and finally made it home about 6:30, I knew immediately that something was wrong, Scotty ran right in the house, but Karlee was no where to be found. I called for her and gave her a few minutes, and when she didn't come, I started to panic, and started searching. When Darin got home from work we went out again, the snow up to our waists, and calling and calling. Neither of us got much sleep, nor had an appetite. I am feeling so guilty, and wish I'd done things differently that afternoon. We have found out since from the neighbors that a car no one recognized was seen by our home that afternoon, and that there are other Pure Bred dogs in the area missing. We would like to share some memories with you and to help us remember her, we prefer not to think about all that could have happened, but to think that she was in fact taken from us, which we hope means that she is with someone that will take care of her,and love her definately not the way we take care of her, and love her.

I miss Karlee BOUNDING through the pet door, I swear she competed with herself each time to see if she could beat her last jump in, she normally ended up halfway into the room, in that one little leap. Then she'd shake her head and do a lil Snort, she was so proud of herself!

I hated when I would be in bed and she always had to bring her bones or rawhides to bed to chew on, I can't count the number of times I'd roll over in the middle of the night onto one of her rawhides. I feel guilty now for always getting upset with her about it, I'd love to have those rawhides back in bed with us now.

Our bed has seemed a little crowded since Karlee joined our family, well now it just feels so big, I miss the way she would snuggle between the headboard and our pillows, or the way she positioned herself on our pillows with her feet on either side of our heads, snoring softly in our ears as she slept! Oh how we miss that sound!

Darin misses her lil sneezing kisses, she'd get so close to ya you'd think you was going to get some kisses, but then she'd sneeze on you, we think in her own way that really was her kisses!

Karlee loved to go for rides, she had so much trust and faith in us, that we usually had to keep the window rolled up because she was sure that we were holding on to her, and we were sure that with 3 legs out the window, and the other halfway out, she was going to fall out and get hurt, she would get so frustrated with us for rolling it up on her! She just loved to feel the wind, we teased her that she was trying to be our "little Hood Ornament", I could never keep the windows in the car clean, because she loved to lick the windows!

The Dairy Queen here in town has cows in their drive thru, she loved going there to get Ice Cream, she was so enthralled with the cows and would just sit and bark at them. She did the same thing when we went for our ride to Medora a few weeks ago, when she seen the buffalo, she just sat and watched them, she was so interested in their every move.

A few days ago Darin was working outside with the dogs in tow, Karlee sat and shivered and wouldn't go inside until Darin went inside. She always had to be a part of the action, so afraid she was going to miss out!

Karlee loved sitting on top of the Heat Vents of our house here in North Dakota, she loved when the furnace kicked on and she got to feel the heat, she rately had to move because it was too warm, she could sit on those vents for hours, sometimes that's where she would be in the middle of the night.

Karlee was such a little Social Bug, anytime anyone came to visit she was right there, I joked often that she thought everyone was here to see her. Leaving Utah was hard for her, because she had the kids and the other dogs to be around, and we had a lot of people over to the house for Scentsy and other such things. Here, we live in the country, so we don't have as many people over, we don't know too many people with kids, and we don't get to see other dogs. But she was happy just the same, she was our Positive, outgoing girl!

Scotty is missing Karlee in his own way. He wouldn't eat for 2 days, he mopes around the house, he's back to being very nervous and shaky when we take him for a ride, he's very cuddly and lovey to us both again, it's not enough to nibble on the hand right now when we get home he has to be held for a few minutes. His trips outside are few and far between and usually only occur when he really has to and when we are close by or get on the porch with him. Each day is a little better, however the days for him are long and lonely right now. We are trying very hard to be patient with him, and be home with him as much as possible. We keep thinking that it's hard for us, it's even harder on the lil guy, he just lost his Best Friend.

Thanks for sharing, please feel free to leave us comments, and share in any memories any of you may have of our lil Karlee as well. We love you Karlee, you will remain in our hearts, and we promise to keep your memories close to us!

This is the last and most recent picture we have of Karlee, courtesy of Liz, last weekend when she dogsat for us. We will miss you sweet sister!!!

Karlee right after a hair cut, she loved going to the groomers, she really was a girly girl! Ya know how most dogs hate to get a bath, well not Karlee, she loved them, when I said bathtime she was right there, and loved to feel the warm water running over her, she was never ready for it to be over.

Brother and Sister doing what they do best, playin!

Karlee Sue and Jo

Darin and his favorite lil Santa, Karlee!

Karlee made a huge mess while left alone in her Kennel. I was so made at her that day, believe it or not, I'd love to be cleaning up her messes now!

Visit with the Noe parents

2010-03-30T21:07:00.002-06:00

Last weekend we had the chance to meet up with Darin's parents, for a short but sweet visit. The plan was to meet in Minnesota, however due to flooding in Fargo, there was some concern about us getting through, so Darin and his Dad changed the plan, and decided to take us to South Dakota. We stayed in a small town called Watertown, South Dakota. We had dinner, checked into our Hotel, went to see the movie Bounty Hunter (very cute show), crashed at the hotel, went to Breakfast, and said our Goodbye's! It was a very short visit, but it was nice to see family, and meeting half way made the time more enjoyable for all involved! It was great to have a piece of home, without a 12 hour drive.

Here's a couple of pics of our lil getaway!

Darin and Jo

Darin and Carol Noe (Mommy and her baby boy)

Darin and John Noe (like Father and like Son)

Jo cooked, and it was edible!

2010-03-30T13:35:00.004-06:00

Well, it's been 6 months since we moved to North Dakota, we've had our ups and downs, and we are both homesick right now and I am so missing her parent's cooking! Darin is getting bored with the same old easy stuff I am always making, he's begging and pleading with me to try new recipes. I've been asking everyone how to make stuff, so I don't get laughed at when I call home to ask my wonderful parents how to fix something! (trust me, I know they laugh)

The girls at work convinced me that I couldn't go wrong with a roast and since we have a couple in the freezer, I decided what the heck. So, a couple of Sunday's ago we got up, I put the roast in, we went to Church, we came home and I permed Liz's hair (I have a few friends that are keeping me in good practice), and we all had some roast! It was very yummy, and so very easy, I just may be able to do it again! The only complaint or bad thing is, Darin's reflux issues joined us with our meal. He got the hiccups so bad, I was worried it was going to be another ER visit, luckily they subsided and we were able to get back to and enjoy our meal! I took a couple of pictures to prove to EVERYONE I know that yes, I did cook, it not only was edible but looked edible as well!

On a side note, of this post, my mom takes Steak and cuts it into pieces, breads it, and cooks it, it's pretty good, I've been wanting some lately so I decided to try it, on the first try Darin, who is also a fan of my mother's cooking, tells me that I made it better than my mom! WAHOOOO! Couldn't be prouder of myself. He did say he would NEVER admit to saying it, so don't bother asking him about it, but I swear he said. That's two things, I'm told I'm better at making then her, and all I can say is, my momma must have taught me well!

The Roast was so tender it was falling off the bone, there was no cutting through it!

Here is the whole meal, veggies, rolls, and the Roast!

Long over due post!

2010-03-23T18:17:00.002-06:00

I could go on and on about how crazy it's been, but at this point, it almost feels like a waste to mention. So I will simply say, that with Jo working full time again, sitting at the computer to email, blog, or facebook is not high on the priority list. I feel horrible however that this post was not done sooner. I know that I don't have to post it either, but I also know that my mom would do the same for me, if she were the bloggin' type, that is.

So, let's get to it! A few years ago Jo's mom started selling Avon, she enjoyed it, but then let it slide to the backburner and quit because of work and all kinds of things. Well, recently she decided that she missed it, and wanted to start it up again. So she did! So I am asking for all you to support her in your Avon buying needs. If you don't know much about the product check out her website at www.youravon.com/sharonbills I know that she is going to enjoy doing Avon again, and I know that with everyone's support and her excitement about the great products that they have, she will do great! I'm a horrible daughter and haven't placed an order yet, but I plan to very soon, and can't wait! Check out their specials and great offers!

Thanks! Much love to everyone!

Where the buffalo roam....

2010-03-23T07:08:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago we both had a Saturday off, so we went for a drive. We drove about 40 miles West on I-94 to a small town called Medora. It's pretty much closed right now for the winter, but it was really fun to drive around and see the old style buildings, and the town. We came across the Visitor's Center for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and since some of the roads are still closed due to Snow, it was free to drive through and see the wildlife, views and the area. After looking around at the visitor's center and checking out the Cabin that has some actual Theodore Roosevelt belongings in it, we went for a drive through the Park. We didn't see a ton of wildlife, but a few, Darin had actually made the comment that he was disappointed because none of the buffalo were close to the road at all. We went as far as we could, then turned around and headed for home. Shortly before exiting the Park we were stopped in our tracks by Buffalo across the road. Of course, Jo was so excited to leave the house that morning that taking the camera completely skipped past her mind, so all we had to snap pictures with was the cell phone. I think they turned out okay!

We can't wait until Spring/Summer/Fall to go back into the Park, and hopefully take some friends with us. We keep hearing how beautiful it is.

Enjoy!

It all started......

2010-03-10T06:31:00.010-07:00

...back in 2006, Jo was on the recovery from a relationship, someone she truly adored, and Darin was living his life looking for someone to share it with! We met, agreed to go out, and POW life as we knew it changed!!! We knew that first night that we were both in trouble, and it didn't take long for us to become inseperable. If you know us well, you look at our difference and think, what?!?! We are opposites! Well, it must be true what they say about Opposites attract, cuz we sure did! It was a whirlwind of a romance with short 2 months of dating before Darin proposed. A seemingly endless 2 month seperation during our engagement as we made the dreaded move from Logan to Vernal, and after an amazing trip to Las Vegas we were a Newlywed Couple! It was a small ceremony with wonderful family, and some close friends to witness the I do's, and then we had a very entertaining dinner afterwards. We will forever be greatful for those of you that took time out of your busy lifes to attend our wedding. It meant so much at the time, and as we take today to look back we want you to know that we still hold you very dear to our hearts, and appreciate your support.

At times the road for us has been rough, as we struggled to begin our life together, we had some things to work through, but as we have overcome those struggles, we have learned that if we lean on each other we have a greater strength than either of us ever thought possible!

So here's to 3 years and many more to follow! Happy Anniversary babe, I love you!!!

Although these pics were taken after only about 2 weeks of dating, they were simply just for fun, and not meant to look like engagement pictures! It was just a simple ride in the mountains, with a camera and a good friend in tow! We love & miss you Meg!

The proposal- Darin had a beautiful jewelry box made, had it engraved with Jo's name and the date, inside was a built in smaller wooden jewelry box just for rings with I Love you engraved, on the inside of that was the ring! Everyone but Jo knew what was going on, and I couldn't understand why everyone was tearing up as I opened this gift and why in the world was Darin sitting up to watch me open it? We were celebrating Christmas with Jo's family on New Year's Eve, seriously people, what was the big deal? And then she found the ring!!! Obviously, it didn't take Darin long to learn of Jo's love for jewelry, but he is SHOCKED when he opens that treasured jewelry box today and it's overflowing! Really, D Shocked why, you seen my habit back then?

Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada did an Outstanding job for us. The pictures, the ceremony, the cake. It was absolutely amazing!!!

Outside on the Chapel's grounds, at the gazebo, a favorite picture of ours!

Lighting the Unity Candle, during the ceremony.

For those of you who didn't know us then or wasn't able to watch or attend our wedding, I tried to attatch the video but it wouldn't work, I apologize. The officiater was amazing and had some great words to share with us. It was truly touching, and we don't just feel that way because it was our ceremony, we have been told that numerous times since the wedding! Since Jo is always looking for a reason to celebrate, and thoroughly lives it up when there is something to celebrate, we are living it up! So, it's our Wedding Anniversary, but it's also the Anniversary to our family and close friends, that you are stuck with the pair of us. As much as some of you may not like it, it's the both of us, and we wouldn't have it any other way! ;)

Touched by Baby Bronson...

2010-02-08T20:06:00.003-07:00

So, I've been having a rough time lately with my attitude. I've been feeling like I am just not good enough, not pretty enough, etc etc... I've been struggling with going back to work Full-time and money issues and so on and so on. I've been hating the weather recently and really wishing Spring time would come a little quicker, I know, I know the Winter Blah's! I have been so busy and although it's a good thing it's really wearing and my emotions are coming out tenfold. I've also been feeling so picked on and playing the Why me, Why us game. As you all know this is a very horrible game to play and no one wins when playing it, please tell me why do we bother with it? I've been turning to blogs and a few friends for some help. The other night, I was reading through some blogs and a dear friend of mine had a post that I just couldn't pass up. A friend of hers has had a recent tragedy and is going going through a a true nightmare. The family has decided to keep friends and family up to date by blogging on their family blog. I would like to share with this EVERYONE I know for a couple of reasons.
1- This is a definite tragedy, that unfortunately happens all to often. I think we can all use a little reminder to hold those we love a little closer at night, take a few extra minutes to enjoy a some of life's pleasures and remember what is really important in our lives!
2- The Power of Prayer and Faith are simply amazing!!! I just don't think it will hurt to add a few more prayers for this amazing family!
3- Attitude! I still have all of my problems that I had last Friday, but I am most definately looking at them through different glasses. Hearing this story and how the family is dealing with their tragedy, makes me realize just how small and simple my issues at this time are.
4- Judgement... Should be enough said, I don't want to take away from the story in any way, partially because Bronson's mother does such a wonderful job of writing the story. The accident alone moved me to tears and had me on the edge of my seat, but to read that she was blaming herself, doesn't she have enough to deal with at this time? This is the type of tragedy that could happen to anyone, and although no one will want to admit it, I would bet we have all done this or something similar to this at some point, it was simply a tragic Accident! I would love to be able to step into thier lives and wake them up from this nightmare and let them have the day to do over!

I have been so touched and moved by this story that I find myself thinking of Bronson and his family during the day, wondering how they are making it through the day! I hope a few things will come from posting this blog.

- Each of you will take a few minutes to read this tragic story, add this family to your prayers.
- Bronson will make a full recovery and fast!
- Bronson's sweet mother will not blame herself and will realize that although she would love to take the day back and change it, accidents do happen!

Here is the link to Bronson's story: http://www.stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/ I recomend scrolling all the way down to the post dated Feb 1, and starting there.

With love and prayers, may a miracle touch this family!!!

Faboulous Friend

2010-02-07T17:08:00.005-07:00

So, today Jo's BFF is turning 30. We just wanted to take a few minutes to tell her Happy Birthday! She is not only an amazing person, but a wonderful Best Friend. Annalee and Jo have been friends since the first day of 6th grade, and our friendship has dealt with boy issues, school issues, Divorce and marriage problems, Single mom moments, and being friends long distance! Through it all we have remained close. Thanks for all of your love and support Annalee, You are seriously the best Best Friend a girl could ask for! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Annalee and Jo shortly before the big move to North Dakota. Sept 2009

It's been awhile, so here's us.

2010-02-07T16:58:00.008-07:00

So, it's been awhile since we seen a lot of you, and due to our recent Snow Day's, we took a few pictures of the two of us. Nothing special just a few random pics of us! Enjoy...

Another self portrait of Darin & Jo

Darin & Jo (self Portrait)

Jo, in the apron her mom made her for Christmas. Bakin' cookies!

Darin getting food from the deep freeze, ya know the Chocolate Chips, hamburger etc.

Darin and the dogs, playing!

While Jo was making cookies, Darin was working on taxes or so he says, he was probably catching up on Nascar.com, but enjoying himself on the computer none the less.

SURPRISE!!! Another winter storm.

2010-02-07T16:31:00.005-07:00

This post is really late and I do apologize, things have been pretty busy. So the weekend of our Power Outage we had yet another Major Winter Storm. They were forcasting 12-36 inches of snow and 50 MPH winds. On Monday morning Darin got up to go to work, and called in to double check and was told not to go in, call back in hour to check again, this continued throughout the day. Jo's phone rang at 6:30 (she doesn't go in to work until 8), and was told we are working but don't stress to be there until 9. We started digging ourselves out of the driveway, you can't really tell how bad the drift was from the picture below but trust me, it's a good one. With Darin not able to go into work, we knew the roads were bad so he followed Jo into work, good thing because just as she was about to cross the highway to the driveway of work, she got pretty stuck. Working for a Construction company has it's advantages and they sent someone over with a loader to help us dig out, Jo did finally make it to work about 9:45! With the winds still going strong, they had us all head home about 2:30pm. So, Yes Jo did make it work, even with a short day. Take a look at the pics below to see the drifts and the results from the most recent Winter Storm. For the record, when Jo got home from work, she went to baking, made pumpkin cookies to send to Utah, and some Chocolate Chip Cookies to keep here for Darin! Somethng productive came from the day. On a side note, we got lucky to not receive another 12-36 inches of snow, but the wind I definately think we got plenty!

The Office window, during the storm! Couldn't even see out due to the snow drifted up on it.

The backyard after the wind calmed down, and the snow stopped for a bit.

The drift in front of the the car right next to the fourwheelers. To get the Mountaineer out we had to go through this drift!

The backyard at night snowing and blowing.

Pitch black

2010-01-24T18:32:00.002-07:00

So, last Thursday night we were preparing for the major winter storm we were supposed to be receiving. Darin called Jo at work about 4:15 or so and let her know the power had been out for about 20 minutes, ok no worries, it'll be fine, we thought. Well, we thought wrong... Jo made a few deliveries then met up with Darin and Liz after work we had a quick dinner then Jo and Liz were off to enjoy a "fun" girls night with a couple friends. We sent Darin home and continued on to our night out, our "fun" had cancelled due to weather warnings, so we made a short night of it (so it didn't count against us, for those of us with spouses, of course), Jo made her way home at a very early 8:30, wow, it sure was dark on the country roads home, oh wait, there was still NO POWER! Our neighbors didn't brave the outage with us, as they all have small children, we braved the night with no heat. Brought our mattress to the living room, shut all the doors and piled the blankets on top of us and slept until about 4 am, we turned on our small "emergency" use heater and began our day. After Jo got off work at 2pm (it's friday) there was still no power and the house was way tooo cold to stay in, she was packing for a hotel stay when the power came on. She loaded the dogs up, cranked the heat and started some laundry and left for an hour to let the house warm up. We are happy to report that we have had constant power until this morning when it flickered a few times then left us again for a few hours. Although it's a blizzard outside with some major wind gusts out there, we are lucky enough to still have power!

Although a hotel stay would have been so nice, who wouldn't enjoy a hot tub and vaca from cleaning, the pocket book would like to Thank the Power company for working so diligently to restore power, because with 2 small kids (SHHHH!!! they don't get it when we call them dogs) a hotel stay costs on average $20.00 more a night.

They send Darin home from work today due to most roads being closed and conditions worsening. Walmart and a lot of stores in town were closed today due to power outages. Anyone wanna place any bets on if we make it to work tomorrow?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIL' MAN

2010-01-09T19:35:00.007-07:00

It seems like only yesterday, that you were brought into our lives, and oh what fun it has been. We would be lost without our Little Man! Korbin, we love and miss you so very much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Thanks to our cell phones, Laura is able to keep us up to date on the pictures. The top is Korbin on New Years Day 2010, the middle is him on New Year's Eve, I think they had just brought him home and look at his mess, the "TERRIBLE TWO'S" should be fun at their house, and the bottom picture is Korbin on Christmas day, with the tractor and wagons that Aunt B and Uncle D bought him for Christmas! Just wanted to remind everyone, that Korbin has a Savings account in his name, to help him get started in life, that Darin and Jo are over, if you are ever interested in putting in any amount, please let them know and they will get you the information you need!

And the winner is.....

2010-01-09T19:26:00.003-07:00

Late Thursday afternoon, Jo had a minor disagreement with the screen door, as the disagreement progressed, the level of her patience decreased. The fight ended with a fist to the handle and the door opening! However not so fast to give Congrats to Jo on her well deserved Victory, she was almost in tears with pain. She took a few minutes, rubbed and begged the side of her right hand to quit throbbing. It didn't really work, but she was not about to give in. Friday came and with it was some more swelling, throbbing, pain, and agony. But being the stubborn Jo that she is, she was not giving in to let the screen door win. Saturday came and alas she thought that the Congrats were going to be deserved until the swelling got a little worse, the throbbing a LOT worse, and the bruising began to appear! By Saturday afternoon she'd had enough and was ready to give in to the door's haunting laughter! She took herself to the Emergency Room, might I ad at this point that her hair and makeup was left undone due to pain (this should tell you how much pain there really was, for those of you that know her at all) And finally it shall be called a TIE!!! The door may have opened for Jo with the hit, however the door left some damage. Jo is bruised very badly on the right side of her hand, the Dr. was sure it was broken and informed her that it was indeed her lucky day! So with a new splint to keep it stable and immobile, and a script to be filled, Jo has admitted to defeat!!!

We should note at this time that the screen door handle is now broken and not shutting correctly at all. We think that both of them have learned their lesson and are proud to say they have called a truce!

An exciting Christmas eve

2010-01-02T20:20:00.002-07:00

This year for Christmas Eve Darin was working, so Jo was invited to go with a friend to her family dinner. Liz has been awesome since we moved to North Dakota, and after Dog sitting for us on our quick trip to Iowa in November, she is still talking to us! She works for the local taxi company here in town, and was going to be on call that night, she needed to go into the office for about an hour (or so we thought) After making all of Jo's Scentsy deliveries she headed to Liz's office to head to the family's when she was done.

It was a busy night for Liz, only one driver was scheduled and well, a first for both of us, here's a rundown of the night.

Liz was awaiting my arrival at her office and we drove to the airport to pick up a stranded Christmas traveler due to our Christmas blizzard, the taxi's are handicapped accessible and we had a tough time figuring out the seat and turning it into a seat, finally our passenger sits down and forces the seat to cooperate. We drive him to his hotel and Liz gets out to open the door for him and POW!!! He is literally EJECTED from his seat. Luckily no harm was done and we were all able to laugh. We went back to the office to see how the lonely driver was doing, he was still pretty far behind so we went out again and yet another ride. We went to pick up an elderly woman on her way to Christmas Eve Church service, we got her to her services safely and again with no harm! We then went to a local restaurant to pick up a worker and take him home, he did not have correct change for the ride so we stopped at a gas station to make the change, when returning to the car the door didn't get shut tight and the lights kept randomly flickering during our journey to his home. I call it a journey because of the previous mentioned Blizzard we were having. The roads were very slick and Liz was driving a vehicle she is not used to driving. By this time we have received even more calls for rides, so we headed to another hotel in town to pick up a shopper, we took him to the store of his choice and picked up a couple waiting for their ride home. By this time Darin is calling and wants to know where we are to come join us for Christmas Eve. Now, please tell me how to answer that question, when we are literally traveling through town. We sent him to Liz's office in hopes of our safe return there a few minutes later. We continued on with taking our couple home for the Christmas Eve celebrations and alas we had the driver caught up enough for us to go to the office. By this time it's too late to join the family for dinner, so we met Darin at the office and told him of our adventures, as we were trying to remember all that had happened and all the calls we had received during our journey to schedule their rides for the next few days. It was quite the night, action packed and comical to say the least, I went home with my cheeks and stomach hurting from laughing so much and so hard! Liz told Darin that she was the driver and I was the brains, well Liz, I will be your brains anytime. Thanks for the fun night and not letting me spend the Holiday alone! You are a wonderful friend, and I don't think I will ever forget EJECT-A-MUNDO!!!

The Wooden Bowl

2010-01-02T19:51:00.004-07:00

I received an email this past week and as I was sifting through it, I stopped and pondered for a few minutes about the story. It has been around and I'm sure that most of you have read it previously, but for some reason the story really struck me this time around.

As I was growing up my grandparents health became so bad that they ended up living with us for a short time. I remember trying to make the most of it and adjusting things in the home for them to help them be more comfortable. I remember that I had to be more careful about having friends over and make other such concessions.

Now that I am older, I realize what a huge impact this had on my parents and their lives. If you know me well then you know that I am very close to my parents, and I'm very proud of the things they have accomplished and done for themselves. And as I read this story once again this week, I realized that I have learned yet another thing from my wonderful parents; the love that they showed to both of their aging parents. It isn't something I gave a lot of thought previously. They took in my grandparents while having full time jobs, a child still at home, as well as Church callings and responsibilities. They worked it all right in to their daily life. Of course I heard them quietly complain and watched as they had to set the things they wanted aside, but never once did they allow my grandparents to know or feel the burden they were bearing for them.

I hope that as I continue through my life, I can remember all of the many great lessons that my wonderful parents have taught me. I hope that I can make them as proud of me as I am of them! I know that I tell them all the time how much I love and appreciate all that they do for me, but I again want to tell them how much I love, adore and cherish all that they have done for me in the last 30 years. Mom and Dad, I appreciate all the love and support you have shown to me, my husband, and all of my friends. I love having your ears to listen to me, your shoulders to cry on, and to hear your cheers from the sidelines! Your advice and support mean the world to me. You are both shining examples of how I want to live my life!!!

Thank you. You are wonderful parents, and I couldn't be more proud to be your daughter! I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!

Your Daughter,
BettyJo

For those of that haven't read the story, please enjoy!

The Wooden Bowl

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.
The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and
failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.
When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess..
"We must do something about father," said the son.
"I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor."

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.
There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.
Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Snow Day!!!!

2009-12-26T18:14:00.006-07:00

We have been under a blizzard watch since Dec. 23, and it was set to end about 6pm Dec 26. Darin was able to make it home on Christmas day by using Hwy 10, the interstate was closed. The blizzard watch has been lifted and now it's a Winter Storm warning until Dec 27.

Jo was awakened this morning by Darin saying, my truck is stuck in the driveway, can you come help me decide what to do exactly. Out we went, (with our new warm Christms wear.) The truck was very stuck in a large drift. Darin ended up calling work and was told not to worry, there were 6 ft drifts in the parking lot at work, and the dispatcher's relief couldn't make it it, call back in a few hours for an update. So we began enjoying our Snow day! This was about before 6am! By 7:30 we had received a phone call from Jo's work saying they couldn't open and to not even try to make it in, SWEET, I can't even get out of the driveway! No worries. When Darin called into work again, about 8 he was able to report that the truck was unstuck and he could head down the road, if they wanted him to. He was again told not to worry or try, same situation as before, please report about noon, with a road report as well.

So about 11:30 we braved it, and went for a short drive, we made it to the interstate which was empty but looked to be open! We went down a few other roads since they were really ok. There was one road we had to turn around from, notice the pic of the fenceline below. We went through town and was pretty shocked at the piles of snow. The drifts were so high, I didn't include a picture but took one of some storage sheds on the way to our house, the drifts were completely blocking the doors, and was about level with the roof. Didn't seem like it had snowed that much, but blow it had for sure!

All in all, we have had a very nice day together, watched some TV and were even able to take a nap together, I'm sure we will regret it when it's time for bed tonight, but with how incredibly crazy it's been lately, it was nice to just relax and lay around together! For tomorrow, I'm sure it will be back to reality, Darin will go to work and Jo will as well, although we did get the call a little earlier, that Church has been cancelled, don't suppose work would two days in a row? HMMMMM, we can hope!!

this is a parking lot in town and the pile of snow they had on Sat. about noon, when we made the drive into town.

After getting the truck unstuck we took a short drive to give Darin's work a road report and this is one of the roads we seen, obviously we didn't try to go down. There was another car on the other side of the drifts doing the same thing we were. This is more a shot of the fenceline just off the road, but with this shot, you can just imagine how deep it was on the road.

And the other side of the house, Darin to show you how a good depth.

The backyard, normally you can see the Bar-B-Que, and the dog house, as you can see you can't even see the fence in some spots!

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-26T18:03:00.006-07:00

Christmas this year was a rough one for Jo. Having never been away from family, it was very different for her to be alone for most of the day. Having been so busy lately, she spent the cleaning the house, watched a Christmas movie on TV, and was more than ready for Darin to be home, when he was lucky enough to get off and be home by 6pm. We then opened all of our Christmas gifts and enjoyed a nice evening together. We were all very spoiled this year, with roasters, homemade aprons, cute teddy-bears that sing beautiful uplifting songs, personalized bakeware, clothes, and cell phone accessories, and Darin's favorite gift a water pillow! The dogs too were spoiled as always with plenty of new toys (just in time since all the others are buried outside in the snow) and treats galore!

We miss our family and friends tremendously, and being so far from both is very hard, however we still believe this is a good move for us, and we are growing as a couple as well as growing as individuals!

We also everyone was able to take a few minutes to remember the reason we are able to celebrate this amazing day. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Lots of love to all and a very Merry Christmas!

Better late than never.....

2009-12-26T17:53:00.003-07:00

So, we took out the camera yesterday for a few Christmas pictures and I found these pics from mid November. So I thought I would give ya'all a quick post about it. Right after we moved to North Dakota, Jo went and signed her Scentsy business up with the Chamber of Commerce here in Dickinson. To help get active in the community and get her name out there. They were having a Holiday Craft Show on Nov 14. The cost seemed pretty fair, and so we signed up. It just happened to fall on Darin's day off, great help for Jo. This was our first Craft show with Scentsy and it was a Success! It seems that since then, Jo has been constantly busy with Scentsy! No complaints of course. She had her biggest month in November for sales, which in turn helped her team have a great month! And she was able to add two members to her Scentsy team during the month. She has been working non stop between working her Part-Time job and Scentsy, and was even making deliveries until about 5:30 pm Christmas Eve.

Here is one of the pics that we took of the display!

Ready for Christmas??? Ready or not here it comes.

2009-12-16T16:53:00.001-07:00

It occured to me yesterday that we are only 10 days from Christmas!!! Holy Toledo's where has the time gone?!?!? With both of us working so many hours and Scentsy, we have been pretty busy. However, I must say that I think we are ready, sure we may have a few small things left to buy for Christmas day but nothing to stress over. The Christmas packages have all been sent to Iowa and Utah, when did shipping get so expensive? The Christmas cards have all been sent out, if you didn't get one, please email us right away, it means we do not have your address, and we would like it. The tree is up, and although we have no outside decorations this year, we are enjoying the season. I do wish we were going to be with family this year, but we are making the most of it, and going to enjoy our First Solo Christmas (if you happen to call on Christmas and Jo is in tears, it's not your fault, she's homesick for her family, just bear with her.) We hope everyone takes a few minutes during this Holiday Season to remember what it is we are celebrating. We wish each of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a wonderful HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Saying Goodbye...

2009-12-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Can you ever truly be prepared to say Goodbye to someone who has touched your life? I think the answer is no! The Friday after Thanksgiving we received the call, that Darin's Aunt Bonnie had passed away. We were saddened by the news, but felt relief in knowing she was done suffering and moved on to Heaven to be with her parents and wait for the rest of us. As we talked about Going to the funeral vs. Not Going there were pro's and cons on both ends. Darin felt very strongly that we needed to go, and so we went. We left North Dakota early Sunday morning and drove straight through, arriving in Brandon, Iowa about 10pm Central time. We woke the next morning to attend the funeral, see some family and head for home. We stayed Monday night in Alexandria, Minnesota and got home just in time for Jo to make it to her Scentsy party Tuesday. It was a fast trip, but a good trip. We were able to see a few family members, and visit, but most importantly we were able to pay our Respects to a very wonderful lady.

I didn't know Aunt Bonnie well, but as I listened to the stories that were told about her at the funeral, I was touched at how she had affected so many lives. They talked about her love for her Church and her laugh. I haven't been in the family long enough, or around enough to have heard her laugh, but I can almost hear it as everyone around me was remembering her. What a special spirit she was. She was born with Down Syndrome, and had her fair share of trials, but she came through smiling and enjoying life. What a woman, she was! At her funeral, the pastor relayed a story to each of us, afterward they had some copies made, I took one and wanted to share it.

Welcome to Holland
by Emily Perl Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child
with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared
that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would
feel. It's like this...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip- to Italy. you buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. you may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"HOLLAND?!?!" you say, "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. it's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, let flashy than Italy. but after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills.. and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things... about Holland.

I can't explain exactly why, but that lil story really touched me. I'm so glad that we were able to make it to Iowa for Aunt Bonnie's funeral, and although I didn't know her well, I feel as if I did. I enjoyed hearing all the stories shared about her personality and enjoyed hearing some of the family's favorite memories of her. Again, my only thoughts are, What an amazing Special Spirit she was! We were all so lucky to have known her! You will be missed Bonnie!

Thankful Thoughts

2009-11-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Can't believe it's the end of November and we are celebrating Thanksgiving already. It seems like just yesterday it was July 4th, and then I step back and think ok, that's wasn't yesterday... This Thanksgiving we have soo much to be Thankful for Thanks to our wonderful Parents, who support and love us, even when you think we are making a mistake you support our choices to do what we feel is right! Our families for also supporting us, and being there to talk when we need it. I can honestly say that I would be completely lost without each of you in my life. Our awesome friends, who are there for us to talk, cry, and just plain listen, you know who are and you ROCK!!! There is soo much more, and if I try to list it all out, I know I would feel horrible later seeing I have forgotten something, so I will spare you all just know that we are Thankful for so much this year.

It's been a hard Thanksgiving for Jo, as she is so far from family, and that's never happened before, however we are sticking with the attitude that if it doesn't kill us, it will only make us stronger!

Life here in North Dakota is treating us well, and as we are making no announcements we are excited to report that we have learned that our new insurance (from Darin's work) covers some of the cost of our Fertility treatments. This is a HUGE load off of our minds and shoulders, and we hope to be progressing with all of it soon. We of course will keep you all updated, for now we are still researching with the Doctor's and insurance company to get all the coverages figured and worked out together. On this point, please keep us in your prayers, having a baby was beginning to feel impossible for both of us, and this helps tremendously!

Lots of Love & Thanks to each of you. Hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving and Holiday Season!

Scentsy Party

2009-11-01T18:26:00.001-07:00

Well, Jo had her first "official" Scentsy party here in North Dakota! Things went so well, thanks to a wonderful hostess. We had a great turnout and it was mentioned quite a few times the advertising we have been doing in the papers here. She even had a few comments about seeing Jo's car around town, with the Scentsy sign in the back window. It's great to see her hard work paying off. Luckily, it doesn't seem like hard work, because it's so fun, and rewarding!!!

The entry table with a Door Prize drawing!!!

The main display table at the front of the room. I found a tier'd cake display and it works GREAT for displaying the Scentsy warmers.

The table the testers were set up on. The tester's are seperated into their categories.

There were two of these banquet style tables with a few different Scentsy products lining the center of the tables. In the back you can see the table Jo had set up for taking orders and the other one was a small free gift basket for coming.

As mentioned previously the Party was a HUGE success!!! Darin was a huge help, Jo might just have to bring him along to help out more often. We have a few more parties scheduled, and a Holiday Craft show coming up soon. We sure do love our Scentsy!!!

North Dakota's "Enchanted Highway"

2009-11-01T18:05:00.001-07:00

So last Thursday, we both had the day off together! We had been searching for things to do here in town. Darin had seen in a brochure about about the "Enchanted Highway" that isn't too far from Dickinson, so we loaded up the dogs and went for a drive. These are pretty neat metal Sculptures, the signs along the road said that these are the World's Largest sculptures. They have a gift shop at on of the stops as well, although we decided not to go in, we thought we would leave that for when someone comes to visit and we get to go again and see them. We were amazed at the detail and the colors of each of these. Very fun!! Here are a few pics. Enjoy!

Geese in Flight This sculpture is just off the interstate and the road leading up to it, has poles with different geese on them. All in different flight patterns.

Deer Crossing

Grasshoppers in the field Notice the wheat laying down, looks like this was set up this way! This site had a little playground off to the side and it had small grasshopper bouncer things. Ya know, grasshoppers with the coil, springs under them! (SORRY, I have no idea what they are called)

Fisherman's Dream In case you can't see it, there is a tied Fly that the large fish is coming up to catch.

Teddy rides again Darin loved the horse and buggy with this one.

The Tin Family There are flowers in Tin Ma's basket, and notice her hair, all curled up. Tin Pa also has hair. And then there's lil Tin, with the Lollipop and propeller hat. So cute!

This wire tree sits right next to the Gift Shop.

We had a fun enjoyable day! Who knew that North Dakota had an "Enchanted Highway"????

Quick Update

2009-10-26T07:07:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, this is just a quick lil update for ya! Darin is working a LOT. His shortest day so far has been a 12 hr and 15 min day. They are keeping him right at the 14 hr mark! So during his 5 days at work, he is staying very busy! Jo started her job for Kmart last Thursday. She was hired on as Front End Supervisor. She is meeting with the District Manager on Tuesday to be back up HR & Payroll. It's too early to tell just how much she will like the new job, however Saturday she was training on the Service Desk and enjoyed herself. A lot of the stuff just came back to her from when she worked for Kmart in Grand Junction, CO, a few new things and a lot of different processes. But she is enjoyed being out of the house, around people, and running around! More posts to follow...

Toto, I don't think we are in Utah anymore... I mean Kansas!

2009-10-12T16:55:00.000-06:00

Well, reality is setting in and although at moments it's difficult, so far so good here in North Dakota! Darin is now driving not just riding along as the passenger, and he is liking his new job. Jo has had one interview, with a job offer and another interview scheduled for tomorrow we shall see how it goes and go from there.

The only real complaint so far is the weather, it has been really chilly here since we arrived, and the wind is ferocious! However, I hear it hasn't been all Sunny and warm in Utah either, so in answer to a lot of questions lately, it's cold but Jo is staying warm for the time being!

Jo is starting to get bored, which is not a good sign. She is making daily trips to the mall and walmart, being very careful not to overspend, but get her out of the house. Yesterday, she attended Church at the Dickinson Branch. Talk about different, after being told that there were about 70 active families in a 60 mile radius, I will say that I was pretty shocked at the number of people at Church. More than I thought, but still nothing in comparison to what I'm used to. Luckily, there is a lot of new people that are moving into the ward, so it kinda takes the heat of being the New Kids on the Block! Everyone seems so nice and friendly, and believe it or not a lot of people actually know where Vernal is, without it being called Dinosaurland first. I was quite impressed with this bunch!!!

Just before the move Jo got into a series of books by her favorite Author, well, without finishing the full series, but running out of time to check more out from the library in Vernal, I figured no big deal, there will be a library in Dickinson. Today, I found that library and got myself a card, only to find out that they carry one of the books that this author has written and it's not a part of the series she was so looking forward to finishing. The librarian was very sweet and printed off some other books by authors similar to this one. But seriously, I didn't dream it would be hard to find a book by Anita Stansfield. But then again, HELLO JO, you are not in Utah anymore... So, if any of my awesome wonderful friends that also love this author, have any of Anita Stansfield's books in the series, Timeless Waltz, I would be eternally grateful to you for sharing. I actually own the first one, Timeless Waltz, and have read the second, but can't remember that name, but that is where I left off. The really bummer part is I was really looking forward to reading right now, to occupy a little time. My mind is on overdrive currently, and well for those of you that know me, you know that is NEVER a good thing!

So, in closing, Jo has been reminded again, that we are not in Utah anymore, but it's ok, we are surviving!

A house to a home!

2009-10-07T00:32:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone for being so patient with me in getting these pictures taken, and up here. Will you all quit hounding me please! In no particular order here is a glimpse of our new home here in North Dakota!

This is out the front door, no we do not have a lawn. Bummer :( I know! Also it had been pouring all day when I took this sorry!

The spare bathroom. This is just outside of the office.

Master bathroom, with has a nice large shower/tub area of the the left. Only entrance is in the Master bedroom.

Master Bedroom- We have so much room in here. We lost a lot of closet space in this room, but we do still have a walk in closet!

The narrow Laundry room. We do not have all the shelves for this room yet, so it's not really done!

The Kitchen! Please note that the laptop will not always be on the table, it's just easier for right now.

The living room. The black and silver you can see in the right is the TV stand and the wood color in the lower right is Jo's cedar chest

The hallway, this is what you see when you open the Spare bathroom door. The door you can see is leading into the office.

Just up the hall of the office and extra bathroom is the Spare Room.

That's the house in a nutshell. As you can see we have a lot more room than our home in Utah. I didn't do any pictures of the office yet, as we are still finding just the right spot for everything, be assured they are coming soon, I promise. Hope all is well with you all, and again I'm sorry it took me so long. The last two days, Jo has been on a job hunt. Gotta find her a Part Time job before the Homesick sets in, and she goes out of her mind from boredom.

Moving in!

2009-10-07T00:22:00.000-06:00

Well, after what felt like days on the road, we arrived in Dickinson. Darin went to his testing for work, and Jo headed to the Motel to get checked in and somewhat situated. After the appointment, we came out to our new place. WHAT A MESS!!!!!!!! Things that were supposed to be done 3 1/2 weeks ago were not! HELLO, people move in day is TOMORROW, what is going on? We stressed, and freaked and met with the landlord a little later that night. She was able to smooth things over and promised things would be taken care of right away. We went back to the motel got some much needed rest, by this time Jo could barely talk let alone walk anyway, her cold was seriously kickin some butt now!

The next morning it was up and at em early. We had the internet people and the Satelite people coming. Then much to our surprise, Jo's parent showed with Lonnie in tow, only about 9 hrs early. Not knowing of our HUGE problem they left the night before and drove all night to get there to help us early. It was a HUGE blessing because with Jo being sick and coughing and so dizzy and being so short of breathe, she couldn't do much to clean. We were saved by family yet again! We got the place cleaned up enough to call it a day, went to our motels got some more much needed rest and began the next day early as well.

With the help of Jo's parents and Lonnie, Darin's dad and brother Derek, we got all of our things moved in, a pet door installed, a fenced yard built and the storage trailer set up. Every wall in the house had been washed, the bathrooms cleaned, it was time to start unpacking! We spent the first night in our new place!

Everyone left Saturday afternoon and even through exhaustion we kept going. Sunday we couldn't go anymore. Jo had overdone it Saturday and woke up Sunday again with no voice, Dizzy and sore. She slept most of the day.

Monday Darin started his new job and Jo went to work on settling in. It's taken about week, but we are pretty much in. There are still some things the landlord needs to get taken care of, like the skirting of the trailer and so on. But we are working on her daily for these tasks and also getting frustrated.

North Dakota or bust...

2009-10-07T00:14:00.000-06:00

The day started early, we finished packing all the last minute things, went to lunch with Anthony, Tanya and their two lil ones ( One of Jo's best friends from High School) and said our Goodbye's! Then we headed off to start our new journey to our new home! Dickinson North Dakota, here we come.....

The North Dakota border sign.

Darin drivin on the interstate.

Saying goodbye to Kellee. She made Jo a picture frame with pictures of her in it, saying that we will be missed! We are gonna miss you to sis!

And saying goodbye to Korbin! What's Aunt B gonna do without her lil man?

We have arrived!

2009-09-26T21:09:00.000-06:00

Hello, this is a very quick post to let everyone know that we have made it to North Dakota! We have our internet and Dish Network set up, of course we did the most important first! LOL Anyway, we are slowly but surely getting settled into our new home! We had a rough start as we arrived here but things are coming together. We had been told that the house would be cleaned and completely ready for us to move in by Wed Sept 24. Well when we arrived in town on Wed, it was FAR from ready. Jo's parents surprised us by showing up about 10am on Thurs. (we hadn't planned on them until later that evening.) Luckily for us they left early and came ready to help. We cleaned our hearts out and was ready for the unloading, unpacking party on Fri! Early Fri afternoon we were joined in our efforts by Darin's dad and brother. We are so very blessed to have such wonderful family, who have not only supported us but gone above and beyond for us! We didn't get to visit to much, we were so busy, but the progress we were able to make has been amazing! The dogs are so excited to have a pet door and fenced in yard all ready for them! As soon as we are done unpacking and getting everything settled we will post a few pics! There will be an email soon with our new mailing address. Thanks for all your support and prayers, we have been feeling it all during this time.

PS Jo ended up with a nasty cold starting Tues and ended up with no voice and a very dizzy head during the move, she is on the mend and although things are seeming to come together slower than she wishes, they are coming together. Without the help of our AMAZING family we would have been in HUGE trouble. She is beginning to feel better and her voice is returning to normal! Saturday afternoon was a rough one for her since her Mom and Dad left, but there has been no Homesickness as of yet! Just a longing for mommy and daddy since she still isn't feeling well! Love you all and more to come soon!

Apparently... I used to be a Professional

2009-09-12T16:00:00.001-06:00

So since school started every morning Jo has been doing Kellee's hair in front of the mirror to teach her how to do it, and let's be honest, it gives Jo a lil bit of heaven to be doing hair again! So yesterday, as we were doing our morning ritual of doing Kellee's hair she was telling me about how her and her friend were talking about Curling Iron's the other day and Flat Iron's as well. They talked about how hot they get and so on. Somehow during this conversation it was brought up about how Kellee's babysitter used to be a Professional Hair Stylist. Apparently Kellee's friends just think that is pretty dang awesome that he hair is done every day by someone who used to be a professional! Then after school on the same day, Kellee proceeds to tell me that a girl in her class asked her today how she always gets her done so cute in the mornings. Ever since school started her hair looks very cute everyday, how does she do it? So Kellee responds with, "My babysitter does it everyday, and she used to be a Professional hair stylist, in a real salon and everything!!!" Kellee was so excited and animated in telling me this story, she thinks it's great that she is getting comments on her hair styles and she's learning how to do them herself. What she didn't know is, even though she is saying Jo is a "has been" stylist, she totally just made her day!

Here are a few pics of how cute we got her hair looking yesterday! From the front

And the back, it's not just in a ponytail, it's really in a French Twist type of style!

Big Decisions = Big Changes

2009-09-06T10:14:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official and ready to be announced! Darin and BettyJo are moving out of Vernal, well Utah to be exact. After much talk, going back and forth, thought, prayer, and stress, we have decided to accept Darin's job offer in Dickinson, North Dakota! We leave Vernal on Wed. Sept 23 and Darin starts his new job on Mon. Sept 28.

We are currently in the process of packing, stressing, packing some more, stressing a lil more, feeling very overwhelmed, and did I mention packing? With only 3 weeks from the date this was decided to the actual move date, there is plenty to keep us busy! Don't plan on seeing us on here again until after the move!

We will however post more at a later date. But here are a few answers to the most common questions we are being asked right now:

1- What kind of work will Darin be doing? Darin will be working for Missouri Basin Well Service based out of Belfield about 18 miles from where we will be living in Dickinson. They haul Water and Crude Oil. Out of this location there is more Oil being hauled then water. So, basically the same as he has been doing, but add the Crude Oil part!

2- How big is Dickinson, North Dakota? The 2007 Census reports that Dickinson was 15,900 people back then, you do the math to make it current! You can also visit this site to learn more www.visitdickinson.com

3- Why North Dakota? Why move now? Back in June Darin seen this ad, we talked about it, applied and had set up an interview, we then decided it wasn't a good time and backed out. We then started talking one night and Jo admitted to Darin that she couldn't get it out of her mind and thought they should reconsider, Darin had the same feelings and agreed, we reset up the interview, started researching again, and 2 hrs after the interview was offered the job. Housing is in short supply there right now, however we felt it a true blessing that we were able to find a place to live just minutes before heading back to Vernal to pack up!

4- How far from the family's will you be? From Jo's family we are deserting them since they are all in Utah. Her parents and sister live minutes from us currently. We will be about 860 miles or a 12 1/2 hr drive away. From Darin's family we are moving closer. We will be about 830 miles and about a 12 hr drive. We have only driven it once from our Utah home, and the mileage there is about right, from Iowa we are unsure and will have to figure it out exactly, but we will be closer.

5- What will we be doing with our home in Utah? Our house is still up for Sale, we have again lowered the price and currently just really WISH it would sell. However, that doesn't seem to be happening just yet, so we will be putting the house up for rent and hopefully be able to have help financially that way, until it does sell! We are also advertising a Lease Option to buy and the fact that we have an Assumable Loan with a great rate!

6- Scentsy? We are going to continue to sell Scentsy and Jo is very excited for the opportunity to expand her business into North Dakota. As for our Awesome customers in Utah, Jo's parents will be keeping an inventory in her home and will be servicing them here. They are very excited for the chance, and Jo is excited to have the chance to continue to service the customers she has built up for the past 1 1/2.

I do believe that is all for now, stay tuned for future posts. We are busy lil beavers packing and spending time with family and friends before we go. If any one feels the need to lend a hand, we welcome the opportunity as we have MUCH to do before Sept 23!

Lots of love!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-08-29T13:03:00.000-06:00

So, I'm a day late in posting this, but it was such a CRAZY busy day yesterday, so sorry! Anywho- Jo's wonderful father turned 61 yrs old yesterday! We were lucky enough to celebrate part of the day with him by going to lunch, then later we went over to their house for presents. We finished off the night with some dinner, and by then we were all so full that there was no room for the Ice Cream birthday cake! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA BILLS! We love you!Papa and Korbin with Papa's sunglasses and hat, a little Papa look-a-like!

This is one happy Papa, and one AWESOME DAD!

Scentsy Lover? I do think so!!!

2009-08-27T17:51:00.001-06:00

Okay, maybe they hear Jo talk about Scentsy a little to much!?!?! But this is just too good not to share. The other day Jo had her nail appointment and before hand we gathered up quiet toys, books, and the drawing pad to keep the boys entertained. Well ,we were in luck, there was a little boy in the waiting area waiting for his mom to get her hair done at the same time. Emilio and him hit it off and were playing and sharing a coloring book before I could blink! WONDERFUL, he's busy for awhile. While visiting with my wonderful nail girl, Coby, this conversation was overheard.

Emilio: Do you use Scentsy at your house?
Little Boy: What's Scentsy, I haven't ever heard of that?

Emilio: My baby sitter sells Scentsy, it's really cool, it makes everything smell really good! (walks over to my Scentsy covered and filled purse on the floor next to me) Here give this to your mom, I bet she'd like it!

Little Boy: Oh, Okay (puts the catalog in his backpack)

SERIOUSLY, am I that bad? Or am I just that good? I also recently had this conversation with the kids while delivering Scentsy orders earlier this week.

Kellee: Is it hard to sell Scentsy and work at the same time?

Jo: It can be to be really good at selling Scentsy you need to spend a lot of time and work hard. Why do you ask?

Kellee: Well I want to sell Scentsy when I get older, but I will be getting called out all the time like Darin does with his job, so I may have to make my husband manage our Scentsy business.

Emilio: I bet I could sell Scentsy, Wrestle like the professionals, and bull-ride. Do you think I could?
Jo: Well if you worked really hard, I'm sure you could!

Do ya think these kids love Scentsy? They help make sampler molds and don't even worry about how excited they get when an order comes in, they know that we seperate it, and make sure it's all there, label it and add it to the inventory. We have been so busy lately with it, that up until school started they were asking me daily how many deliveries we had to make that day?

They are such good helpers, and at least I'm teaching them about a GREAT product right?

Sorry, but I just had to share this!

First day of School and the boys were lost!

2009-08-27T17:26:00.000-06:00

Wednesday couldn't come fast enough for this new Fifth grader! So excited she could barely sleep the night before, but alas, the moment she had been waiting for, Jo went into the bedroom where she had been tossing and turning and said OK, Kellee you can get up and get ready. In record time, (I'm not kidding) this girl was on the move, breakfast down, teeth brushed, and all dressed. Doing her hair felt like forever to her. Then she had to wait, she'd moved so fast! We all walked her to the bus stop and told her to have a good day! She was on her way! Then it was a short walk back to the house and what to do, what to do with the boys. Emilio still isn't to excited about starting next week, so it's gonna be tough keeping him busy and occupied and gearing him up, but we shall soldier on! Jo was able to keep the boys plenty busy, or was it the other way around, it's hard to tell. We had appointments and errands to run in the morning, and studying and cooking to do in the afternoon. That's right at only 6 yrs old and with the help of a 19 month old Emilio made his first whole dinner! He made Chicken and Rice Casserole, Green beans, and breadsticks with some Sugar Free Lemonade (compliments of Grandma Noe in Iowa). For dessert he chose Chocolate Cupcakes which Korbin and him had a blast making, frosting and decorating! And before we knew it, we were picking Kellee up from the bus stop where she was beaming with pride! Her first day of Fifth grade was a success, and much to her surprise, she had NO HOMEWORK!!! She's going for the Skater look this year!

So ready, why isn't it time yet?

Mixin up the brownies, yes they both needed to be hosed down afterward.

The wonderful dinner they were both so proud of, dang Jo for forgetting to set the Lemonade pitcher on the table with the food, but Emilio was proud of it all! I hear it was VERY tasty boys!

And a picture of a very small portion of the mess on this lil face. If you look close you can see the Chocolate on the forehead as well. He was covered from the waist up, I should have thought of snapping the picture before I started cleaning. SORRY!

Picnic at Flaming Gorge

2009-08-27T17:14:00.001-06:00

This year school started on Wednesday Aug 26. So in honor of the kids' last day of Summer Vacation we skipped story time at the library and took them to Flaming Gorge. We had a picnic and went on the Dam Tour. The kids of course had a blast and were so tuckered out they they slept the entire way home, with Darin of course! Here are a few pics of our adventure in the mountains. The beautiful view of the water and mountains.

One of the turbines that sits out front of the Visitor's Center and Kellee, Emilio, and Korbin

Picnic, don't mind if I do!

Korbin hates to have his hands dirty and since Uncle D was sitting next to him, they washed his hands a lot!

Scentsy Convention

2009-08-24T08:07:00.000-06:00

So sorry this is so late and I am behind and I'm sorry but this post will be a LONG one as Convention was a few days, and there is just sooo much to tell! So last week we were able to attend the Scentsy Convention. It was held in Salt Lake City this year, which was great for us being so close and all! We left Vernal Wednesday and registered, checked into our Hotel and was able to have a nice catch up dinner with our friends from Logan (who know live in SLC) Meg & Jim. It was great to catch up with them and visit for awhile! Now I may be biased and possibly even crazy but I think it is so kewl that as we were walking around our Hotel lobby we ran into Orville and Heidi Thompson and their children. Again this is the presidential family of Scentsy, I realize they are not famous, but in my eyes they should be! It was also fun to just run into Kara Egan one of the founders of Scentsy, her and her husband are so friendly and fun to talk to. Anyway, up and atom early Thursday for the beginning of meetings and trainings. The new product was unveiled and some given away. SO AWESOME! Then it was Thursday night and time for the BIG Celebration of Scentsy turning 5. The celebration wa carnival style and called Cirque de' beserque. It was really fun to walk around and see the booths and they had set up and all the fun things for the families involved. Again, we were able to have Meg and Jim join us, a big Thanks to them for taking time our of their busy lives to hang out! Friday was another early day filled with meetings and trainings. I was fortunate enough to win one of the Scentsy Spirit games and ended up with a $100.00 Gift Certificate to Scentsy Success, which is where we buy all our business supplies! Then we went to the Awards Gala and enjoyed some yummy deserts and some hilarious entertainment, which was a comic named Jason Hewlett. He is awesome, Jo had seen him previously in Logan, but still a very good show! He sings, plays instruments, and impersonations. Needless to say it was a great night! Scentsy gave away 5 cars, and about 10 trips (I may be off on the number,)among numerous other awards. Then on Saturday we were able to go to one more final meeting with our team. We learned a lot of new things, and ideas and Jo is SOOO excited to put everything into action. Our goals with Scentsy have changed and we are the way to reaching them!

A huge Scentsy sign at the Salt Palace in Downtown SLC

Jo and a new friend with my WINNING Gift Certificate. (If it wasn't for her Jo wouldn't have won!)

Jo with her Tiara and Gift Certificate. She was one HAPPY Scentsy Chic.

Each year at Convention you sign your name on the board. It's totally impossible to see my signature but it is up in the left hand corner. PS Shine in 09 was the theme for this year's Convention, and they did a WONDERFUL job with it.

Darin and Jo headed out to the Awards Gala

The one about the package from Iowa!

2009-08-11T20:33:00.000-06:00

Have I ever mentioned how wonderful Darin's family is? Well if I haven't I totally apologize, they are are just great. His caring parents are always sending us lil care packages with all kinds of goodies. Well this week we received yet another, we had a lil warning about this one and was told it contained goodies for the kids. Well after we opened the package Monday night, we packed everything for the kids back up and thought it would be fun to get a few pics of the kids going through their package from the Noe's in Iowa! Thank you so very much to Mom & Dad Noe, the kids were thrilled with their stuff, you'd thought they'd won the lottery or something. You have successfully made some more Utah friends, and they are more than happy to be your adopted lil grandchildren. I should mention at this point that Laura and Emily (their mom's) think you have already spoiled them rotten! You have done your job and done it well! We love you! On a side note, I would like to add that Mom Noe you did get their favorite OJ juice in the box, and I missed the picture, but really they were jumping up and down! It was cute!

Waiting anxiously for the package to hit the table.

And the digging begins, please take note of Emilio's face here, I know it's a side shot, but he is pretty stoked!

And Kellie LOVES tattoo's, however did you know? Also we had just had snack, yet Korbin is all of a sudden hungry again for Scooby Doo Mac n Cheese.

And the stickers, holy moly, are you sure you guys haven't met these kids, they love to put them on every craft we do. All in all, it's safe to say they are pretty excited!

Kellie's new do!

2009-08-11T20:20:00.000-06:00

So it's back to school time and after some talking it was agreed that Kellie was ready for a change. She wanted to keep it long, but wanted it to be healthy as well. Here is what we came up with. Doing her hair today, really made me miss doing hair this time of year! I love doing big major changes like this. Stupid sensitive skin anyway! It looks so cute on her, and really fits her personality well, also has the versatility to do different styles and so on.
Of course I completely forgot to take a before picture, however this pic was taken about a week or so ago and shows a good shot of her hair, pretty long, straight and all one length!

And the after shot! She picked out like 5 hair styles and they were all either flipped out or all very curly. She will have to put some effort into a flip with her hair type and since Mom says No perming right now, we will have to settle for a few curls at times.

And from the back! She is pretty excited about her new do, and was prancing around like a princess all afternoon! Which of course just made my day!

Melts my heart!

2009-08-06T23:57:00.000-06:00

This post is seriously a heart warmer for me! Darin and I have had a lot of talks about kids and raising our kids and so on, with all of our problems getting pregnant and starting our family, well Darin has admitted to me his fear of him not being a good father for multiple reasons. While I think this fear is very very common among both men and women, I still think it's something to take very seriously! Well there was no doubt in my mind nor was there ever the fact that Darin would be a great father! Well having the kids around has proven that to me and hopefully opened his eyes a little as well. These may not be our kids, however we spend so much of our time with them and as always Darin is wonderful to help me think of ideas and ways to not only entertain each of the kids but to help them learn and enjoy their days with us! So I wanted to show the world ( or everyone in our blogging world) just how great of a father I think Darin will be and why! Please note that all of these pictures were Darin's idea and I just happened to have the camera around to catch them! Once we get pregnant, our kids will be so lucky!!!

After making cookies, Darin took each of the boys aside for a little story time! He had Korbin clapping and making the sounds in the book as well! Keep in mind that Darin isn't really a reader himself!

When Korbin woke up from his afternoon nap, Darin scooped him up to cuddle for a few minutes while Korbin fully woke up, this while Jo was busy in the Kitchen!

Korbin loves music! So we turned the music on one afternoon and Darin grabbed Korbin and started dancing with him! Korbin just smiled, laughed and giggled!

Cookies with the boys!

2009-08-06T23:45:00.001-06:00

For a few days this past week it was just me and the boys! To help keep us busy we decided to make cookies. So we made a batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip & a batch of Chocolate Chip. Emilio did so well and he had a lot of fun doing it! Korbin was also enjoying the process although his favorite part was the eating part!

Adding in the Pumpkin on the first batch!

Adding in the Chocolate Chips! For those of you wondering why we are putting in two bags, it wasn't two full bags of Choc. chips!

The finished product! I almost forgot to take this picture, luckily Emilio reminded me that we needed to show everyone how his first cookie making experience turned out! Don't they look yummy?

Tag...8 things.

2009-08-06T06:25:00.000-06:00

I have been tagged by Amy! 8 things I am looking forward to: 1-Scentsy Convention 2-Alone time with Darin 3-Shopping 4- The house to sell. 5-Payday 6-Lazy Sundays 7-My house to magically become clean 8-Sleeping in 8 things I did this weekend: 1-Got my hair done 2-Relaxed 3-Watched a movie 4- Celebrated Lonnie's 21st Birthday! 5-Moved the lawn 6-Got my Itunes working 7-Did a lil shopping 8-Went to lunch with my Mom & Dad 8things I wish I could do: 1-Lose weight and keep it off, while eating whatever I want 2-Keep the house REALLY REALLY clean, all the time 3-Have enough money to donate to charities 4-Be in two places at once 5- Enjoy cooking & be good at it. 6-Never have to worry about anything again 7-Wear a bikini 8-Excercise more so I would look good in that bikini! 8 places I would like to travel: 1-Alaska 2-Ireland 3-New York 4-Hawaii 5-Bahama's 6-Cancun 7-Seattle 8-a Cruise to anywhere 8 shows I watch: 1-Grey's Anatomy2-Hawthorne 3-Private Practice 4-Ghost Whisperer 5-Oprah 6-Dr Phil 7-CSI 8- Numbers Here are the 8 people I tag: 1-Annalee 2-Kami 3- Amber 4- Jena 5-Ashley 6-Janice 7-Kristie 8-Kate

Happy Birthday Lonnie!

2009-08-04T07:29:00.000-06:00

Happy 21 to Lonnie Michael Bills! I was 9 when this lil bundle of joy came into our lives, can honestly say I don't remember too much about it. What I do remember is being SO excited that I was going to be an aunt! I remember telling kids at school and they all told that I was too young to be an aunt, and I responded with well, I have an old brother so he made me an aunt young. I was always so excited to hold you and I do remember getting my feelings hurt because your mom was so protective and made me sit down and felt she would watch my every move with you (she had a right, I was young and you were her first.) Since that day, I have been so very proud to be a part of your life! I was always so excited to see your plays, or games, and when you graduated High School I couldn't believe it was true. Not only did I watch your parents and grandparents so proud of you, I too was very proud! I was so excited when you decided to come back to Vernal, and loved every minute of the time we got to spend together. Cried when you left us again, but never once has that Proud Aunt feeling left me. Darin is proud of you to and enjoys the time you get to spend with us. Though it's not often enough! We love you Lonnie! HAPPY HAPPY Birthday!!!!

Korbin wanted to be in the picture with Lonnie, the cake was way to tempting for him and here he is sharing his icing on the finger with Lonnie.

The birthday boy and his cake. Obviously this was taken on Sunday when Lonnie was able to join us for dinner before heading back to price to work. I seriously cannot believe my oldest nephew is 21!

Jo's new hair-do!

2009-08-03T07:12:00.001-06:00

Everyone gets bored with their hair and needs a change. Well it was my turn, I get bored with mine very easily and often, I will be the first to admit it. So this past weekend Ihad an appointment with an AWESOME stylist in town and took care of my itch for some change. Her are the results. I really like it and it got a compliment from Darin, so she must have done a totally amazing job! Thanks Amy! You rock girl!
A lil side front action! showing a lil bit of the blonde/red on top.

From the back. Yes this is an A-line cut with a stack. I am loving it!

I told Darin I wanted some pics of my hair for the blog and asked him to zoom in. This pic is not in the best focus but it does show the hair length and cut well, just not the color.

OOPS! A forgotten update.

2009-08-03T06:53:00.000-06:00

So I can't believe I forgot to post this, Actually I totally can. With all the excitement of the kids and finding things to do and the fact of wanting to forget it all together, I forgot to post this. So hear goes-

About a month or so ago, Jo went to the Dr and SURPRISE had yet another Ear Infection, we counted it up and it was 6 infections since February so, we were told that it was time to go see Dr Catten the ENT guy in town. We went and was given the options, 1- an Operating room to put you out and put a tube in both ears, or 2-An office visit, numb one ear at a time, put the tube in check back in 6-8 weeks to talk about doing the other! Well since only one of my ears is causing a HUGE problem right now, and time restrictions on their part, I went with the office visit. So about a week and a half ago, I underwent the painful procedure. HOLY CONOLLY! Who knew there was so many nerve endings in your ear?!?!?!?! After some pain to get the cone shaped tool inmy ear, the 5 shots to numb the ear, and the needle that actually goes through your eardrum and sets the tub in place it was done. I had to sit for just a few minutes to stop the dizziness. Then I had this Horrid taste in my mouth, when I asked Dr. Catten about it he said it was normal. There is actually a nerve in your ear that controls your taste buds and it would go away as the numbin medicine wore off. Luckily, I had reinforcements, my wonderful daddy had driven me there, so he drove me to 7-11 to get a drink to wash out this absolutely horrible tasting taste, for the record that helped but it was still there for a few hours. Since having the tube put in, I have been able to regain my hearing,for the most part, still hard to hear when there is a lot of background noise, I am hearing no echo's like some people do. And for the most part the pain is gone. Dr Catten did say that if it gets infected again, I would need some drops and I would know from the pain and to call the office. I'm hoping not to need that piece of advice any time soon though! Moral of this post, Don't be brave and do the Office visit, GET THE DRUGS!!!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

2009-07-30T07:28:00.000-06:00

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad Bills! 42 years ago today, two high school sweethearts tied the knot, at the very young ages of 18 and 17. Congratulations! Thanks for being such a good example to the two of us. And for showing us that although marriage isn't always easy it is always worth it. We hope to follow in your footsteps and some day be celebrating just as many years together. We love you both very much. Happy Anniversary!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on a wedding picture, although I tried, hmmm.... maybe next year!

Dinner for the family... & Popsicles

2009-07-30T07:10:00.001-06:00

So the other day, Jo found some popsicle molds for the kids to make their own popsicles! We have been making our own ice cubes from juice but popsicles, way fun! Anyway, we had this juice (thanks to Mom Noe) that the kids just LOVE, it's Great Value brand and called Orange Early Rise. The kids say it tastes like Sunny D. Go figure! Anyway they loved it so much that we made it into Popsicles for the next day, well I had to post a few pics from the popsicles. Also Kellee made dinner for the entire family yesterday and yes I, Jo helped her. Here are a few pics of her preparing the meal and the meal. I hear it was pretty good eatin! Good job Kellee! Kellee mixin it up and cookin some grub.

Kellee picked out the dessert for the meal she made for the family. Emilio picked out the juice and made that portion. Here is the proud cook with her creations!

Korbin enjoying a lil of the self-made Orange Early Rise popsicles. The kids downed them quicker than the juice, so it must have been good! Good choice Mom Noe on what juice to send in your package.

The popsicle/juice was a lil sour for Korbin but that didn't stop him from enjoying it with the other kids!

Popsicles for snack time! Everyone was enjoying their popsicles. Can't wait to do it again, what juice shall we use next time???

Craft time, Sprinkler time, lunch time, OH MY!!!

2009-07-30T06:51:00.000-06:00

It's hard to know what the kids enjoy the most during the day. They seem to have fun doing everything! Every morning one of the first questions asked is, What are we doing today? When I tell them, I hear giggles and delightful lil squeels. They love going to Story time at the library on Tues & Wed. And other than that we play it by ear. But I do try to do one bigger activity each day, even if it's playing in the sprinkler outside! Here are few pics of how we spend our days, and the mounds of fun we have doing it.

Korbin loves the water, although I couldn't capture the cutest smile I was getting, I thought this was a cute pic. (You try getting an 10 month old to keep looking at your for cute smiley pictures when he's got a water puddle to splash in and not get in trouble!)

Water time fun!

Runnin around in the yard, gettin wet, those were the days!

We had spaghetti for lunch, so Jo's creative ingenious side kicked in and put dishtowel bibs on each of the kids to protect their clothes. In case your wondering, the dishtowels were covered in red spots.

Again, Spaghetti for lunch, enough said!

Craft time! We made Create your own mugs for Laura and Emily! They love making things for other people! PS As I'm sure most of you can guess, we do craft time on the days when Korbin has skipped a morning nap, that gives these two a lil longer to play before he takes over the table, since he thinks he's big like them and should get to do a craft to!

It's a Wonderful life... for the dogs!

2009-07-30T06:36:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that Scotty & Karlee are spoiled. And since taking on 3 kids during the day, we have been asked a few times how the dogs are coping with things. Well, pretty well! They LOVE all the attention they are getting. Jo has to keep a pretty close eye on Korbin and Emilio with the dogs as they tend to get a lil too rough for them. Kellee on the other hand loves animals, in fact she wants to become a vet one day. Here are a few pics to show you just how well they are coping!
Scotty & Karlee right after a haircut. This is also after the kids had gone home for the day. They sleep REALLY well at nights.

Korbin loves to give Karlee loves! He also loves to give them to Scotty. However Jo is so busy making sure he doesn't squeeze to hard for Scotty that there is no time for pictures. He can be a little rougher with Karlee, she loves it! Scotty is still keeping a good safe distance, but he is getting closer to the kids during quiet times.

Scotty & Karlee with Kellee & Korbin

Kellee relaxin with both Scotty and Karlee. They were all watching a movie.

Our Scentsy Journey

2009-07-29T19:54:00.001-06:00

So since starting the blog it has been noted that we haven't ever mentioned Scentsy in here. The friend that mentioned it said she thought it strange since we love it so much! Since then I have been meaning to blog about Scentsy, just haven't taken the time. I finally decided it was time! So here is our Scentsy Journey.

Jo first heard about Scentsy in Dec of 2007. We got one for her and her mom for Christmas. In March her mom called and asked how to get one for her Aunt Bonnie for her Birthday. That got us to thinking, we liked the product and what a great gift it could be. We got her mom the product and started talking about signing up. Because Darin is so wonderful and supportive he was all go! We signed up right away on March 19, 2008. What fun we have had. We have amazing family and friends who have supported us along the way. It didn't take us long to build a full inventory in our home and really enjoy selling. We offer our wonderful customers Monthly specials. We have 4 people selling underneath us, 2 in Iowa and 2 here in Utah. And for our consultants that depend on us for support we are beginning to offer them challenges to help them build their business to where they would like it. It's so fun being a Sponsor, and it's just another way to make friends! In February we were able to go to Vegas to the Scentsy World Tour. We learned a lot and got to meet personally with Heidi and Orville Thompson, the President and owners of Scentsy. We also had the opportunity to meet Kara Egan, one of the founders of Scentsy. What a neat experience! We are currently looking forward to building our business further since Jo has more time now to spend on Scentsy, we hope to continue on our Scentsy journey by selling and recruiting more. Also in a couple of weeks we will be traveling to Salt Lake City to attend the Scentsy Convention to learn more wonderful things about this business that we love. So in a nutshell, we not only sell Scentsy but we love it as well. If you haven't been to our website or are unsure what scentsy is please visit www.scentsy.com/bettyjonoe Call or stop by, we love what we do and no matter what we have something for you! As always, have a SCENTsational day!

Jo in Vegas with Heidi & Orville Thompson ( SO KEWL) Feb 2008

Scentsy room, this is Jo's lil Scentsy desk. The majority of what Jo needs for Scentsy is in here!The bars, bricks, RoomSprays and Car Candle section of our inventory

The warmers and plug in's. Yes, to answer your question those shelves were specially made for Scentsy!

Pioneer day fun!

2009-07-27T14:30:00.001-06:00

So in Utah July 24th is a Holiday. We call it Pioneer day, it's great! There is a Boy Scout Pancake breakfast, a parade and usually a few activities at the park. Not to mention it's usually a good ol time with the fam! Here is a recap of our Holiday this year. We were up at 5:30 got the kids and started rushing around to get ready to meet Papa Bills (Jo's dad) at the Boy Scout Breakfast at 7:00 am. After that we delivered some Scentsy and went home to get ready to walk the 4 1/2 blocks to the parade. With 3 kids and 2 dogs this was an undertaking, but fun nevertheless. We waited for the parade to come and enjoyed it once it did. Afterwards we went to the Memorial wall that was in town. After that we did lunch with Darin before he left for work, then the kids invited a couple of friends over and they played until it was time to go home. All in all it was a pretty fun day! Here a few pics from our adventures.

Jo waiting on the parade. Kellee decided that since Jo is always taking the pictures and is never in any, she would snap one of her!

This was Papa Bills and Korbin's favorite part of the parade! Where else would you see John Deere Tractors as a float?

Grandma, Korbin, Darin and Karlee with Scotty just waiting patiently for the parade to begin.

Kellee, Grandma & Papa Bills, Emilio and Karlee gettin set up for the parade to begin.

The 9/11 Memorial set up in the Memorial. This had all the names of those that lost their lives that tragic day.

This was Jo's favorite display at the Memorial. Boots, hat, gun and the soldiers dog tag. How thankful we are for the freedom we have because brave men and women chose to go fight for all of us.

Emilio and Kellee standing in front of the memorial wall with all the names. It was such a neat experience to see this!

1+2=3

2009-07-27T13:59:00.001-06:00

Guess it's time for another update, really it hasn't been that long since the last update however a lot has changed! Seems like it's the season for changes lately. Well right after Jo left Dalbo she was watching her nephew, then she tried working at Smith's but due to her very sensitive cranky skin that couldn't last long. Then it was just watching Korbin again. Then 2 more lil kiddo's joined their Happy Days group! That's right, instead of just watching Korbin 3 days a week, Jo is now keeping herself busy by watching Korbin (18 mths), Emilio (6 yrs old), and Kellee (10 yrs old). Which basically means her days are filled! It begins about 5:30 am when the kiddo's are dropped off and ends depending on the day and week about 3:30-5:00 M-F. The first and third Friday of the month she will have off! So far it's been a lot of fun. Our days have been filled with Rest time, Lunch at the Park, Parades, Playing in the house and in the yard (including running through the sprinklers), Story time at the library 2 days a week, Craft time, Reading time and so on. Jo has been making breakfast and lunch for the kids daily (and for those of you who don't believe it just ask the kids, it is also EDIBLE for those of you wondering, I know who you are!!!) We aren't quite sure what the plan is once school starts at the end of the August, we are just taking it a day at a time. Here are a few pics of my precious lil tendies! PS Jo has decided that she prefers the term Nanny over Babysitter!

Kellee (10), Emilio (6), & Korbin (18mths) WHAT A TRIO!!!This is Korbin wearing his hat that he made at Toddler Story time! What a creative idea!

Kellee & Emilio posin before goin out to run in the Sprinklers!

Emilio chillaxin in the morning during movie time while Korbin was asleep.

Kellee chillaxin during movie time while Korbin was asleep.

A day away part 4 (Believe it)

2009-07-19T00:52:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday morning we went to the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. There are some very crazy things displayed here. And it's fun to walk around and read about everything. The displays all have a sign telling you who had it or found it and where they are from and so on. Pretty unbelievable! Here are a few pics from the museum.

The Ripley's sign from the street.

As you are walking in here is another Ripley's sign.

So this is seriously a like a buffalo slip cover! It's on a couch. I thought Korbin would be a little nervous sitting up to take a picture but he just loved it. He also loved sitting on the actual couch part, he just kicked back and relaxed. Silly kid!

Darin wanted to get a close up of this sign. Obviously there really wasn't anything to display, but since it does mention Iowa I had to add the pic on here for all our family back in Iowa!

This is the first display you see when you walk in. A horse made of well gems and a bunch of stuff. Towards the bottom of it's legs are writing pens. It's pretty kewl. Korbin loved it because he loves animals. It also spins around.

This pic is showing the Straw Simba, the two headed calf and the rare White Buffalo.

Trip home from the day away!

2009-07-19T00:43:00.000-06:00

So Tueday afternoon it was time to head home. We drove home through Star Valley. The views were still very beautiful, however we decided that the best part of the drive was from Pinedale to Jackson Hole. Aside from the wonderful scenery there is a TON of wildlife to see, we were hoping to see a bear but that didn't happen this trip, maybe next time. Just outside of Jackson there was a bunch of cars parked and people walking around taking pictures, Darin caught a glimpse of a Moose so we stopped and got a few pictures as well. We got stopped by Road Construction, although not for long! Darin drove most of the way, however he got tired on the way home and asked Jo to take over. Shortly after the switch just long enough for him to get to sleep, there was this crazy stuff on the side of the road. Of course Jo hit the brakes, screamed and turned around to get a picture. It was like welded, painted animals. Crazy stuff! All in all the trip was great, way too short but great. Thanks Mom and Dad Bills for planning it and including it as Jo's birthday present. Also thanks to Darin for asking for a couple of days off work and allowing us to take the trip!

A shot from the car window of the pretty scenery on our drive!

The crazy welded wildlife Jo seen, and of course woke Darin up to see.

Another one of Jo's self portraits while stopped for the Road Construction. It was shortly after this stop that Jo took over for the very tired looking Darin.

The moose we say just off the road. There was a baby back in the bushes but you can't see it very well in any of the pictures.

Another shot of the moose. They must be used to all the people because it wasn't jumpy or anything. We were stopped for about 10 minutes taking pictures and it just went about it's day the entire time.

Just to show you how close the moose was on the side of the road. This was after most of the cars had left.

A day away part 3

2009-07-16T23:33:00.000-06:00

So for Jo's actual Birthday present from her parents we had the tickets to see the Bar J Wranglers. Wish that we could tell you exactly what kind of a show this is but even after we are going we can't describe it. For sure if you EVER have the chance to see this group, DO IT! They sing old western songs and during the show it's like comic relief. From May to Sept they do the show at the Bar J Ranch in Jackson the rest of the year they are traveling around the world performing. When you visit the ranch you have the Chuckwagon dinner as well. What's neat about this is that the guys that are performing for you were serving you dinner about 30 minutes before that. It's a very entertaining night for the young and old! This is not a birthday present soon to be forgotten that is for sure. It was a great gift, Thanks Mom & Dad!
I couldn't get a picture with all 5 of the group in so here is 4 of them. Tim on the fiddle, Scott & Danny on the guitar and Brian. Donnie was on the bango and some other instruments in the corner as well.

Some of the scenery as you are walking into the Bar J Ranch

The room where you eat and they perform. Those are Cowboy Boots and hats hanging from the rafters!

One of the Bar J signs!

A day away part 2

2009-07-16T23:12:00.001-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!!!! So Monday morning we left Pinedale and drove the beautiful drive to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We met Jo's parents just outside of Jackson Hole and after getting everything organized we drove into Jackson to spend the day and enjoy. We went to lunch where everyone tried to humiliate Jo by having the waitress sing. Luckily for her they don't do that there, they bring you a FREE piece of pie and say Happy Birthday! So their plan backfired! HAHAHAHA! Next we drove around a bit and then we took Mom & Dad Bills to the Bar J Chuckwagon to wait in line. They had made reservations but to pick your seat you have to get in line. Mom Bills wanted to be very upfront so they waited in line for the spot. While they waited Jo and Darin went over to Teton Village to see some of Jackson Hole on their short trip. While there Jo noticed the Tram and since it was her Birthday and her dear husband couldn't possibly say no to his wife on her birthday he agreed to go. It was soooo AWESOME!!!!! When the tram docks after the 11 minute journey, at the top you are at an elevation of 10,450 They have a small gift shop with souveniers and coffee and such. The views are simply amazing and although we took a million pictures you simply cannot fully capture the beauty of this place. There are walkways to walk around. But even though we left Jackson and it's about 90 degree beautiful day we were now at a much higher elevation so it was much much cooler. The wind was unbelievable! Darin being so nervous about Heights was such a good sport. He just wouldn't come to close to the edges. Jo made him a weebit nervous practically hanging over the railings to take some of these shots. For those of you not familiar with this area at all. Looking out over the gorgeous view of Jackson Hole you can turn and view the Grand Tetons! If that gives you any clue as to where we were. We have so many more pics so if you would like to see more of the views just ask!

Another one of Jo's self portraits. No view here just the Happy couple!

Darin zoomed in as close as he could for this pic, but he is quite far away.

In the winter this is a popular Ski slope. And in mid July well it's still got snow!

One of beautiful views from the top. It's called Rendevous Point. To hike up is a 7.2 miles. If you hike up you can ride the tram down for free!

Darin as close as he would get to the edge.

Another breathtaking sight from Rendevous Point!

A day away!

2009-07-16T23:00:00.001-06:00

This year for Jo's birthday her parents were going on Vacation. They decided that for her gift they would take Jo & Darin to the Bar J Wranglers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. What a trip this was! This post will actually be a few posts to show all that we were able to do and see while on our lil trip. We left about 5PM on Sunday night and made it to Pinedale before we decided to stop. Jo had never stayed at a Bed & breakfast and since it was priced about the same as any of the hotels we called we decided what the heck, let's try it. Here are a few pictures of the charming lil place we stayed in.

Chambers Bed & Breakfast in Pinedale Wyoming.

Our room was called the Green Room. Had a little staircase that was blocked off because it led right into the owners part of the home. They have this place fixed up soo cute!

The other side of our room for the night!

This is the bathroom. I won't post the other pic I took of Darin in the shower (he was fully clothed) showing just how low the ceilings really are. Actually while in the shower on Monday morning he fell and bruised his arm up pretty well. A lil awkward but look how much character this room has!

How does Jo spend her days lately???

2009-07-02T16:21:00.001-06:00

Well it's no secret to those around us that Jo hasn't been happy at her job for awhile now. No offense to Dalbo or anyone there, the job match just hasn't been there since about Dec. Well lately the stomach pain worsened and it was just getting harder to deal with day in and day out. After much discussion and stressin, we decided that it would be best to just quit. Since the decision was made things just seemed to fall into place. Jo took on babysitting her little 18 month old nephew 3 days a week from 5:30 am -4:30 pm Mon -Wed. Well this is the first week and it went well. I really enjoy the time I am getting to spend with Korbin. I love the flexibility to go run errands and work on Scentsy and do things at home at the same time. However financially she was worried this wasn't going to cut it, so I am going to continue to look for a part time job that will work with this schedule. I'm really really excited about the change of pace. Aside from working in a daycare part time while going to College this is unlike anything I have ever done before. As well as being with Korbin and taking care of things around the house, I am really enjoying the extra time and energy I am putting into the Scentsy business. Here a few pics of Korbin that I took this week. He's just so cute!

Korbin and Aunt B

Korbin loves my lil rocking chair he just sits in it and rocks or climbs in it and so on. It's just his size.

Korbin also loves this stuff Dalmation dog that Darin and I have. To be honest I'm not sure why we have a stuffed dog in the house, but now I'm glad. When he's gettin sleepy he wants the dog and his bottle, we sit and rock and it's naptime.

Another Smiley pic from our lil Ham Korbin!

Heber Valley Pow-Wow

2009-07-02T16:03:00.001-06:00

So last Saturday Jo's parents invited her to make the 2 1/2 hr drive to Heber with them to attend the Heber Valley Pow-Wow. Of course the plan was to also stop and get some Corn on the Cob as well! Darin was at work, and well nothing else was planned so why not. I should mention here that I have lived in Utah pretty much my entire life, and even though I travel to Salt Lake City often, through Park City and Heber even I have never been to any of the spots that the Olympics in 2002 were held. I was stoked to see that I was at one of the places. I know the 2002 Olympics were like 7 yrs ago, but I still think it's a pretty cool thing. So about the Pow-Wow- never been to one before and to be totally honest, I had never even considered going before. However it was pretty kewl to listen to the music and watch their dances. I was really impressed at how much hard work goes into this. Those dancers have to be very dedicated to not only learn the dance, but prepare a costume, (there were some pretty kewl costumes) they also have to stand out in the elements be it sun rain or whatever and dance their hearts out not only to one song but to two or three. It was a very nice warm day (and I have the sunburn marks to prove it) and some of these dancers danced to 3 dances in a row. I also enjoyed seeing how young they were and how they would get right into the dance. It was pretty neat. I enjoyed the day and I would totally go to another Pow-Wow! Here are just a few pics from our lil adventure. Thanks Mom & Dad for the day away. It was very nice to spend the day with both of you, just us something we haven't been able to do for awhile!

The 2002 Olympic sign

This is one of the singing groups that was pretty close to us. These guys are very interesting to watch. And although I don't listen to this type of music, I did enjoy it.

These are the Hoop Dancers. It was fun to see the different things they did with the hoops.

This is a mixture of dancers, dancing in the circle.

Father's day post from Scotty & Karlee

2009-06-21T02:05:00.000-06:00

Since it's Father's Day we got the password from Mom to tell the world how much we love our Daddy! He is so great, he lets us ride on his lap when we go for rides, he even rolls down his window and let's get all the wind we can handle. He is always telling Mom to let us go on rides with them. He also sneaks us a little bit of food from his plate when Mom isn't looking, cuz he knows we really like their food better. We also wanted to tell our Daddy that we know he's going to be a great Daddy to our future brothers or sisters, whenever we can get them here. So Happy Father's Daddy, we love you! Scotty & Karlee

Here's a picture that Mom took of us with our Dad, We love you!

Karlee really likes this picture of her and Daddy!

Scotty is embarressed that Mom was able to sneak this picture of him and Dad, but he loves it all the same.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T01:46:00.001-06:00

It's Father's Day today, and we want to take a minute to tell everyone we know and anyone who cares at all. How wonderful our Father's our! It's no secret that Jo is a Daddy's girl and even though she hasn't known her Dad -in-law quite as long, he is still one of the top men in her life! Both of our Father's have not only taught us so much about life and so on, they have done so much for us. We could never fully repay either of them for how much they have done for us, and they just keep doing it! We want both of our Dad's to know that without them we would be COMPLETELY lost. Not a day goes by that we don't realize all that you have done, and continue to do for us. So to our Father's you are very WONDERFUL. We love you & Happy Father's Day! To the many other Father's in our lives Happy Father's Day to you.

Daddy Bills, bein just a lil goofy! We told him he was going to regret this pose

Unfortunately our pics of Dad Noe aren't as up to date, but here is a pic of our AWESOME Daddy Noe

We don't have a pic of just Jo w/ her wonderful Dad Noe, so we figured we would show how great a Dad he is to his Daughter! We love you, Dad!

As you read earlier, Daddy's girl through and through! And dang Proud of it! We love you Daddy Bills!

Four Wheeler Day

2009-06-21T01:34:00.001-06:00

So as Jo got off work on Friday, Darin informed her that Saturday they were going Fourwheelin. HMMMM she thought, I was going to clean house and do the touch-up paint, but hey we have had the fourwheeler's since April and haven't been able to take them out yet! So ok we were both game! Waking up early Saturday morning it looked like the weather was game for our plans as well. YAY!!! We packed a cooler full of lunch, treats and drinks, stopped at the gas station to fill everything up, stopped at Jo's parents house to load the two quads up and we were on our way. Well we did have to fix a flat on the trailer, but easy fix. We were finally able to spend the day together doing something we both enjoy. And something we have both been looking forward to since April. The weather cooperated most of the day. Got a few sprinkles here and there in the afternoon, and it cooled off about 3 so we loaded up and headed down the mountain. Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pics of the ride and views we seen, carrying around the camera is rough on some of those trails. We need to invest in a smaller one for stuff like this. Anywho here are the few pics we did get. Enjoy!

Darin fixin the flat on the trailer so intently might I add

All packed up and headin out

Darin & Jo all ready for a day of fourwheelin' fun! It was well needed, it's been a rough couple of weeks

Yard Sale

2009-06-21T01:25:00.000-06:00

Since Darin and Jo have moved to Vernal, we have had a Yard Sale each year. Last weekend was our Yard Sale weekend. We had our stuff, Jo's Parents stuff, Our nephew Lonnie's stuff, and Laura, Korbin, Emily, Kellie, and Emilo put a few things in. We did really well and sold a lot! Here are a few pics of Korbin on Yard Sale weekend!
So tired, he fell asleep on Scotty & Karlee's pillow. Apparently Darin and Jo have taught them very well to share!

Another view of Korbin sleepin ow so soundly on the pillow! Think it's safe to say he was POOPED?

While setting stuff up and making the signs, someone pulled Korbin's pants up like Urkel! Even disguised as Urkel isn't he just a doll.