A movie

Princess Mea thinks she is a movie star, so we made another movie last night. This is the edited version. She jabbered to the computer for a good 5 mins. The first part is to Grandma Margie and papa...then wait for the last part. It is what Papa England sees from the stand at church every other Sunday. Our conversation after the movie ended "Mea, what does that sign mean?" Me to Mea "He'll know what it means" "What does it mean?" Me to Mea "It's a secret!"

Give Me A Break!!

,I know, I know it has been forever since I last posted. I tried the excuse that I am so busy, but in all actuality I just didn't think I had much going on to post about. My family informed me last night that I am wrong. So here is the skinny... School is going great. My students are fun, I have a couple of difficult students, I have handed out 3 suspensions, but have taught a lot and have seen a ton of progress. Mea is doing well. She is happy, growing a lot and continues to be dramatic. The new big decision is what to be for Halloween (right now she is going to be a mermaid). Jared and Mea went on a "date" this weekend to the MU Ag. Open House and had a ton of fun. They ate bugs (Jared a real on and Mea candy) which Mea made sure to tell her whole daycare about. Jared is super busy. He is getting home late, eating dinner and dashing back to work. His research is going well and he seems very excited about his progress. He had a birthday last week. Mea and Jared had a long discussion about being 26 and how old he is. It was a funny conversation to listen to. Tyler, Erin's baby, finally arrived and Mea loves taking about him. She was thrilled to see him at the hospital and has enjoyed holding and "playing" with him. We are glad everyone is happy and healthy. So in a nut shell that is life. I am posting a video mostly for the Deckers. Mea and I talked about families for FHE and she decided to make a video for them. Life is good. We are busy and happy!

Butterflies and Spaghetti

This one is from the fourth of July- so cute!!

Okay, so Spaghetti and butterflies have nothing in common, except I have pictures to post about both, and both events were a lot of fun. The pictures were taken on my cell phone so they are not the best quality, but you'll get the idea! A couple of weeks ago we went to the Butterfly House in St. Louis. It was a ton of fun, and Mea seemed to enjoy the afternoon (regardless of what is seems in the pictures). We had a picnic lunch, went to see the butterflies, and then rode on the Carousel. There were lots of butterflies to look at, even Azure ones like in Fancy Nancy (Mea's favorite books). I think, the feature Mea liked the most was the huge funnel tube that you drop coins in and they spin around and around, to donate money. She dropped in several coins. The park was great, so it was a great day!

Now for the spaghetti, early last week I made spaghetti for dinner. Nothing too special, but I had forgotten that it is one of Mea's favorites. She filled her plate and ate a so much. It was hilarious. She had sauce every where ear to ear and head to toe. Then she decided she needed bread and butter. As you can see there is a lot more butter than bread. I guess the "butter snatcher" nickname will stick for a couple of more years. I am not sure that I have laughed so hard in quite a long time.

My Little Fish

This is her camera smile- She is in the car ready for Stephens Lake.
We have been swimming a lot this summer and it has payed off the last couple of weeks. Mea learned how to "swim". Basically, it is a float with her legs flailing and arms moving, but she is starting to move forward. It is super cute! This was one of the proudest I have been of her this summer. She worked and worked and is really proud of herself as well. I was impressed by her persistence. It started with just going under. Then she would go under longer(which is scary in a lake- I worried that she was drownding), and with a little coaching she has gotten to this point. Every time I asked her to do something or made a suggestion, she did it with a smile. I call her my little fish, but she prefers mermaid.

I'll post a video this weekend. Our stolen internet just isn't very fast tonight.

Random pictures that make me SMILE!

So far this summer has been great so I thought I would post some of my favorite moments captured with a camera so far. At times I just have to laugh at how happy I am right now. Life is really great! Mea seems really happy and I love spending days with her. She is so smart, funny and strong willed. Jared is supportive, kind and good lookin to boot ;-)! Can it get any better?

Nora and Mea at the zoo- Everyone had a good day!


My little water bug!! She loves to swim and her brown skin and blonde hair are so cute!!

The next to are sideways- sorry I didn't take the time to fix them. They are still great!Mea loves ice cream and her step daddy!


Mea and Nora eating treats by the pool they were tasty!

Watching the horse races in NM. That was a lot of fun- Mea is hoping the pink horse wins- she picked pink every time!- No gambling took place.

Mea's beautiful new cousin Shaylee. They had a ton of fun together!

Wedding Reception Pictures

I like this picture because it captured how I felt- so excited!!

Grandma Margie and Jared dancing- she's pretty good!!
I love to dance with Jared- and am getting much better. So much fun!!


I stole this one from Mar
gie- My sisters are the best...my biggest cheering section and my best friends!


This was at the end of the night; we were all pretty tired.




This picture also captures my feeling pretty well. Jared's face says "so happy to be near the cows", Mea's face "still not sure about this cow stuff", Mary "I am really not sure about this but will pretend for Jared's sake".

New Mexico "Land of Enchantment"

After the wedding we flew to New Mexico to meet family and celebrate. We left early Tuesday morning. Flying and traveling always makes me nervous, but we got to the airport with out any problems. Just as I was getting comforatble, problems began. We sat on the runway during Mea's lunch time for about a hour and an half. Missed our connecting flight, were stranded in Dallas for five hours, and after sitting hoping to get on standby and going from gate to gate hoping to get on a plane we finally made a flight and got to New Mexico around 11pm. It was an exausting, patience trying trip, but Mea did great and we made it. When Mea got off the plane and in the truck the first things she said was "Why did they turn all of their grass into dirt?" and that "they really needed to water out here" I laughed and was surpized at how observant she is. The mountains were beautiful and while there was a lot of dirt, the senery was spactacular. The next week we met family, including Mea's new best friend/cousin Shaylee. The girls had a lot of fun playing. They both have big blue eyes and look like they could be blood, not to mention that their presonalities fit well together too. Mea can't wait to go back and visit. The reception was so much fun. The food was great, the dancing was tons of fun, (the lessons in the basement payed off), and meeting all of the people I had heard so much about was great. Everyone worked really hard to make the night special, and I am so thankful for all the hard work that was put in. I have to say that the cake was my favorite part. It was so cool, and yummy to boot. The last thing I had to write about was branding...you are reading this right, branding...as in burning defensless calves skin with a hot iron. I am proud of my self for getting through that. Cows make me uneasy and I had never been in any situation like that before. It was an experience. I got the low down and when we began and my job was to mostly stay out of the way. Each calf had to be roped, branded, given shots, and had their ear tagged and tattooed. On the first cow, I thought I might cry. The poor things looked really scared and I knew the branding must hurt. My feeling were a mixture of city girl "animal rights" to family loyalty/pride"I am going to show them. Determined to gut through, I decided to jump in and help, and in the end was an okay assistant for this being my first experience with large animals. Everything went smootly, and there is no way anyone will be stealing Fancy Nancy (the cow Mea named). I am pushed out of my comfort zone everyday!! We had a good trip but are happy to be home, settling into our new life.

We are married!!

On June 12th, Jared and I were sealed in the Nauvoo IL temple. It was beautiful and everything worked out perfectly! The sealing took place at 9:00 am. After the ceremony we took some pictures, ate some lunch and headed out for Chicago. We were so thankful that all the people we love and care about were with us in person or at least in thought. I was nice to share the day. We are so happy and cannot wait to start real life together. Perfect shoes, perfect dress, perfect husband, perfect family, perfectly perfect!

Real life will be delayed a week. On Tues we head out to NM for a reception. It will be really nice. I am excited to meet all of Jared friends and family, and show off my new dance moves ;-)! After that we will be home for good and the tasks of real life will start up again. I am sooo excited!

LIFE IS WONDERFUL!!

I'll post more pictures soon.