And it came to pass.....

.....that Matt has been called to serve as the 1st Counselor in the

Monroe 4th Ward Bishopric.

(I just had to steal that title and first line, along with the photo from

Matt's mom's blog...THNX!)

Yeah, we thought he was feeling a little overwhelmed before...HaHaHa!! We were definitely surprised by this call, considering the fact that we moved to Monroe a mere 3 months ago. It just goes to show that the Lord is all knowing, and when we trust in Him and follow the promptings of the Spirit amazing things can happen. It is something you never really hope for and you wonder how you will ever survive it. But the sense of peace that comes over you and the increase in Spirit that abounds is just AWEsome!! And when I already had so much love and admiration for my husband that I couldn't imagine loving him any more, it increased ten fold. To see him as a servant of the Lord and putting all his trust in Him has been very inspiring. I am so grateful for the wonderful man I get to spend eternity with!! I know our lives will be greatly blessed because of his service.

So much for "Doing Better"!!

Sorry to say, I'm really not doing any better. I haven't been keeping you all very updated on here, I haven't been cutting back on the chocolate and Dr. Pepper I'm so addicted to, I haven't started any kind of exercise routine like I was hoping to do, and I think I've become lazier than I ever have been!! Wow, that feels like a real slap in the face to actually write it out and read it...maybe that's what I should've done a long time ago!! Well, enough of my wallowing in self pity...let's get around to the updates, shall we?!!!

Matt, is still really enjoying his job and the people he works with. He is having a lot of training right now, which means 2-3 days a week driving down to Cedar City for meetings and that can be a real drag, but it will soon be over!! He has also started the EMT Training Course down here so he can start running on the ambulance for an additional income whenever possible. That's been a little trying on him since it is every Friday from 5-10 pm and Saturday from 8 am -5 pm for the next month and a half, but it will definitely be worth it when it's over!! And to top it all off he's been called to teach the adult Gospel Doctrine class in our ward...can you say "oVerWhelMed"!?! He has alot on his plate right now but he is doing so well dealing with it all...and we know it will all be worth it in the end!! Hang in there, Babe!!

I have just been doing the regular wife and motherly duties...wishing there was more I could do to help take away some of Matt's burdens, but all I know to do is keep supporting him; so, that I will!!! I also received a calling in our new ward to be an Activity Days leader (which I must admit I was a little disappointed with at first, only because Sydney is going out just in time for me to be going in). We had our first activity last Friday and it was pretty fun, I know I will enjoy working with those girls. I am also training to become a Peer Parent, through the DCFS Program. I will be trained to go into homes of families in crisis and help teach the parents basic parenting skills...i.e. , communication, nurturing, disciplining, budgeting, cleaning. I am feeling a little intimidated by it, but I think it will help me alot just in dealing with my own children, and I really hope I can help some of those poor families.

Sydney just had her 12th birthday!! We celebrated by having a sleepover party with eight new girlfriends, it was definitely a FUN, but wild and crazy night!! She finally got the cell phone she's been asking for, we'll see how long she can keep it!! She also just completed her first term at SS Middle School, and I am very proud of her accomplishments. We had a pretty rough transition with moving into a new environment and curriculum part way into the school year, but she seems to be getting it much easier now!! She is dealing with her broken arm very well, can do just about everything with her cast on....and we were very lucky that it didn't have to be reset after the break, just cast. And lastly, with Syd turning 12 she has graduated from Primary into YW and you'd think she's died and gone to Heaven!! She absolutely loves it, and of course, who wouldn't!! She also worked hard to earn her Faith in God Award by memorizing all the AofF and passing off many other goals, way to go sis, we're proud of you!!

Stetson has just been keeping busy playing with his friends, and dominating the rest of the boys in football at recess!! He seems to be constantly bruised and banged up somewhere, but he loves it....it just shows how tough he is I guess. He did have a little run in with a dog 2 weeks before Christmas, and it taught him that he's not invincible!! Him and a friend were walking home from school on Friday, Dec. 11th when a dog came running from a house and just took Stetson down. He jumped up and tried to run but the dog grabbed hold of him again, and because the roads were snow-packed and slick, Stetson couldn't really get his footing to try and get away. His friend was kicking at the dog trying to get him off Stetson, but wasn't having much luck, until the owner of the dog came running out to the street to rescue him. We just happened to be driving up the road and saw the whole thing go down (unfortunately, just a minute too late to prevent it from happening). We took Stetson home to investigate the extent of his wounds, he had a bite mark and big bruise on the inside of his right bicep and an L shaped gash on the back of his right shoulder. Matt called the Sheriffs Dept. immediately and they asked us to meet them at the hospital to fill out a report. So off we went to the Hospital; Stetson luckily didn't need stitches or a shot, just bandaged up and we were good to go. The dog was taken into custody by the Sheriffs Dept. and checked for rabies, and then was put down. (Too bad that wasn't done after one of the other two times this dog bit other people!) Anyway, Stetson now has two good scars to show off to his friends, but it unfortunately has taken away any trust he had in dogs.

Sadie is still doing awesome with her reading and writing her #'s 1-100, she's constantly sounding out words and doing things to prove to us how smart she is! Her and Sydney have been doing the Mini Cheer Clinic with the High School this week and she just loves it, I love watching her do something she has so much fun doing!!

And McCrae is still bored with mom and can't wait 'til he can go to preschool. He loves to do Sadie's homework with her and knows way too much for a kid that can't start school for another year and a half. He's also made a couple of friends that he loves to play with any time he gets the chance!

So, that's pretty much it....the low-down on the Crazy Cox Bunch!! We hope all is going as well for the rest of you, XOXO!!

Holiday Update

Well, here we are, four days into the New Year and I still haven't made any "real" goals for the coming year. I never seem to accomplish them when I do, so I just didn't figure there was any reason to keep making them!! But, yesterday in RS our lesson was on 'Resolutions', so I am feeling a bit guilted into making some goals. After much thought of all the things I need to improve on; physical, mental and spiritual, I've decided to just resolve to DO BETTER!!! So, hopefully I will be better at recording more of our day to day activities, even without pictures.

We had a wonderful Christmas and are always amazed at the many blessings the Lord sees fit to bless us with!! The kids all got what they wanted, SpOiLeD!! Sydney got a new violin so she can start lessons, Stetson got a Compound Bow, Sadie got a Baby that cries REAL tears, and McCrae got a City and train tracks to play with all of his cars. We got to spend time together, with family and friends....what more could we ask for!?!

On Saturday, Jan. 2nd, Sydney was invited to go sledding with some new friends in our ward here. I am such a pushover that I allowed her to go, even though she had tons of make-up homework she still needed to get done before school started again. They went to the greatest sledding hill around, took their maiden voyage down the hill, hit a bump and overturned the sled on top of them. Somehow in the midst of the flying snow, sled and people; Sydney ended up with a hurt arm. So, their sledding trip ended almost as quickly as it had begun and they turned around and brought Syd back home. We took one look at her arm and knew it needed to be looked at, so we headed to the Hospital for X-rays. Sure enough, it was broken, but not just a simple little break they could cast for us....it ended up being a Distal Radial fracture and its displaced, so we have to see an Orthopaedic Surgeon on Tuesday to get it reset and casted. Sounds like alot of fun, right!?!

Well, the kids are back to school and all is well with the world as we know it!! Hope all is well with the rest of you!!

2 <3's, 1 LoVe

Tuesday, December 15th marked 14 wonderful years of marriage for my best friend and I!! It never ceases to amaze me how much our love has grown over time, and I know it will only grow stronger as time goes by. I am so lucky to have this amazing, wonderful, strong, kind-hearted, and loving man in my life...not only for my sake but for my kids also. He is the greatest Dad on earth, he is such a great teacher and playmate, everything that a Dad should be!! I love you so much Matt, thanks for all you do for our family.

We are so lucky to have a daughter of babysitting age in our home now, Matt and I have been able to actually go out together recently. Last week we went to his Christmas Party for work, just dinner and a gift exchange but it was really nice. And for our anniversary Matt got tickets to take me to Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols...it was so awesome!! Of course I did my fair share of crying, the spirit was so strong; it was amazing and beautiful, I just can't even express in words how much it touched me.

Quarterly Update!!

Okay, so it's been a little over three months since my last post; so we'll just consider this our quarterly update for ya'll. If I make it back sooner, GREAT, if not, we'll make sure we at least get back to you sometime in March.

We have been on such a roller coaster ride these last six months that I wasn't sure most of the time whether we were coming or going. But, for now I'm very happy to say we are coasting in an uphill direction!! You all know how we went from our nice big home with room to spare in Saratoga, to the very cramped quarters we shared at Matt's parents home (which we are sooo grateful for, we can't even begin to express our gratitude for all that they have done and continue to do for us!!). We were constatntly running here, there, and everywhere...not really sure where we really belonged!! But, I am so happy to announce that we've finally found our place and are so happy to be in it!!

Matt, after much searching and interviewing, finally got a job which not only provides for our family better, but is more suited for him. He is thouroughly enjoying his new line of work, and is growing so much. And not to mention how much happier our family is in this new endeavor!!

Sydney went from being part of the oldest, Rule the School, sixth graders at SS Elementary, to one of the youngest, newby, sixth graders at SS Middle School. She had a bit of a rough start since we all made our rounds with the swine flu just after moving, but she is really getting the hang of things now, and really enjoys the change. It amazes me how much she seems to be growing and maturing through this experience.

Stetson has done so well in school these past couple of years, since he had the "World's Greatest Teacher" instill such confidence in him. So, of course he is continuing to excel. And he has made some great new friends which makes all the difference when you move to a new town.

Sadie is also continuing to enjoy school, it has been a bit of an adjustment without her bestest friend in her class; but she loves to learn and is starting to read very well!!

McCrae is happy in our new home, he loves having all of his things out of storage so he can play with them; but he gets so bored when the other kids are all at school. He asks me all the time when we can sign him up for preschool, I'm thinking I better at least check into it because most days I just can't keep him entertained.

And, as if my excitement wasn't just jumping off the page as you are reading this, I must say how happy I am in our new place too!! I've been keeping myself so busy just trying to get the house set up, and decorating--doing all the things I LOVE!! I rarely leave the house, which is especially nice after all the time I spent in the van before moving down here. (I had to brag on facebook how I went a whole week with my low fuel light on.)

I hope to keep you all posted as far as our everyday happenings, but I still don't have a camera, so we'll see how it goes. I love reading about what you are all up to, so please keep blogging! Best wishes for a joyous Holiday Season!!

Back 2 School

Well, it's back to school time already and I didn't even get to tell you about any of our summer fun. Not having a camera to take and share pictures with you all just takes all of the fun out of blogging!! So, a quick recap of some of the things we did over our summer break...camping, hiking, swimming, get-aways to Nana's house, just chillin', and a really fun Family "Luau" at the KOA in Richfield. Really not a lot, it seems like our summer just flew by, we blinked our eyes and it was gone; so now it's back to the daily grind, back to the books, and back to crazy chickens running with our heads cut off!!
The kids are excited to be returning to the same school they attended the past two years, even though we're not living in the boundaries. I decided that it was worth it to me to drive them back out there until we know where we are going to end up for sure, I would hate to get them started at a new school and barely be settling in and finding new friends just in time to yank them out to go somewhere else. We hope all works out so they can stay where they are now, we would really love that!!

First day of school, they look so sharp in their new school clothes!! (What a cute pose, huh?! :)

Sydney is in 6th grade this year and so excited to "Rule the School"!! I can't believe she is getting so old, and big enough to share shoes with me (YEAH!!, more for me!)

Stetson is in 4th grade and has such a great attitude about school this year, thanks to last years teacher (we love him sooo much!!)

I hope this school year will be awesome for the kids, I know it can be if they just keep a positive attitude and do their best. They are such good kids and have always been excellent students, keep up the good work guys, I Love You!!!

Oquirrh Mt. Temple Dedication

What a blessing it is to be surrounded by a multitude of our Heavenly Father's beautiful temples. And what a special priviledge it was to attend the dedication of this Holy House with my family. I am so grateful for the wonderful spirit we felt and was able to share with Sydney and Stetson, especially in singing 'The Spirit of God'. As we sang the words "...the veil o'er the earth is beginning to burst" I was so overcome by the spirit that I could not even utter the words of the song, it is a marvelous feeling and I cannot express how grateful I am for my Heavenly Father and all that he has given me. I am especially grateful for my eternal family and for the knowledge I have of my Heavenly Father's plan.

CrAzY, cRaZy life!!!

Okay, I know, I totally suck at this whole blogging thing, but it IS summer!! I have been such a slacker about posting anything, it's going to take me all summer long to get caught up, if I ever do that is!! I guess I'm only missing the month of June, that's not to bad, right?! So, let's back up to that point.
School ended on May 30th, what a sad and emotional day, for ME mostly. I loved my kids' teachers so much, I really hated to see it end; that and the fact that I would have to listen to them fight and argue all day long now. Anyway, we had a fantastic year and hope to return to Saratoga Shores in the fall.
The reason I say 'hope' is because we were finally given a deadline on moving out of the house we were living in. After two previous notices with no follow through we actually got the real deal issued to us at the end of April. The paper stated that we had five days to vacate the premises, but there was no way I was accepting that. So my dear sweet husband called the Attorney issuing the notice for the bank and got us til the end of May. Yeah, I got my wish...that the kids would at least get to complete the school year!! So amidst all the end of school festivities, we were trying to get packed and ready to move, what a headache!!! We were so sad to leave that awesome house, and the wonderful neighborhood that it is in. But there is no way they can make us stop attending the ward. :)
Then, the following weekend we went to Cherry Hill with my family. It was a much needed break after the move. We headed up Friday afternoon, grabbed lunch on the way, got camp all set up, then headed into Salt Lake for the Bees game. As we were sitting there enjoying the game, one of the players hit a foul ball right to the section next to ours and hit some poor lady SMACK in the mouth!! It was really sad, the EMT's had to come and take her out, she was bleeding like crazy. But after that Bee's personnel starting handing out everything you could imagine to all the people in that section, like ice-cream sandwiches, T-shirts, #1 Fan foam fingers, mini bats and balls, etc....those are the things I can remember because our kids kept sneaking over there and getting them as they were handing them out!! The game went into double overtime with the Bees finally winning, it was so exciting. After the game they put on a fantastic fireworks show, and of course the kids ran the bases and got a certificate for free kids meals at The Old Spaghetti Factory, ooohhh YUM!!! When we got back to camp we all just crashed, some better than others...Sydney had started complaining a little bit through the evening that she wasn't feeling well and ended up waking me up every couple of hours to go to the bathrooms and eventually let it all rip just outside the tent, yuck!! On Saturday we spent the day floating around the lazy river, swimming in the pool, and riding down Cardiac Canyon. Sydney even tried it and liked it this year, with no persuasion or force on my behalf. Then as we were sleeping so nice and sound, the storm rolled in and started raining pretty heavy at about 4am. It rained almost constant 'til we were all packed up and ready to leave at about noon on Sunday. We of course weren't ready to go home yet, so Matt decided we should go visit our good friends in Bear Lake, we were already halfway there after all!! But then his idea of going to Bear Lake evolved into taking the scenic route around, through Evanston and into Bear Lake from the back. It was a nice drive and a quick little visit with old friends, then as we headed for home we got to stop and say HI to some cousins in Logan. I love that we're still young enough to just take off on an unplanned adventure, and drag our kids along for the ride!!
Other than that we've just been trying to find some kind of order in our crazy chaotic lives. We are living with Matt's parents for the time being and trying to make sense of it all. I couldn't be more grateful for ALL that they do for us!!
I'll try and keep you all updated with our craziness, but it's not near as much fun to blog about all our fun festivities without having pictures to post. I put the camera in my pocket after taking a picture of the kids in front of the Welcome to Wyoming sign and the lens got sucked in all crooked, so now it won't work, and that's why I don't have any pics posted from our Cherry Hill adventure.

Sydney and Sadie's Dance Recital (05/16/09)

The girls had another enjoyable year of dance from our dear sweet neighbor. They had their dance recital centered around the theme of "Mamma Mia" and each group of girls danced to one of the songs from the movie, it was so cute and alot of fun!!

This dance that Syd's class did with the mops was actually to the song "We built this City on Rock and Roll" by REO Speedwagon. I was so excited when she told me they were dancing to that song because that used to be one of mine and Racquel's favorite songs when we were younger. We had it cranked pretty good one day when my dad was trying to sleep from being on graveyard shift the night before, he had gotten his fill of it and come downstairs and asked us, "Have you got that city built yet?" I'll never forget that and always cherish the song for such a great memory!

I loved these cute little bell bottoms, their dance teacher actually makes all of the girls' costumes.

Sadie, looking so cute before it al started.

She was supposed to have the tie around her neck, I love how she put it around her head!

What a great pose!!

Sydney with her great teacher, Cindy.

Sadie with her darling teacher, Matika.

Stetson's Class Swim Party (05/16/09)

Still trying to play catch up!! Stetson's class had an end of the year class party at his classmate/friend Brans' house. They were so nice to host a party at their house for the whole class to come and swim in the pool, play in the yard and have hot dogs for lunch. Stetson took Matt along to help chaperone and they both got fried to a crisp (I'm so terrible about remembering sunscreen), they still had a blast though!!!

Stetson, making a big splash!
Mr G. got pushed in the pool, fully clothed.
Stetson throwing Mr G.'s soggy hat around the pool.

(We still need to replace that.)

Playing some B-ball with the boys!!

Stetson got burned so bad that day, that he couldn't put a shirt on for three days...he missed church on Sunday, and school on Monday and Tuesday; I hope we all learned a lesson from that one!!