Just in case you were wondering YES we are still alive. We have been very busy as usual. Nate has started his pilot job and is gone on average 6 days a week. It is a very long week! I also am working about 3 days a week. My only working 2 days a week was short lived but oh well I enjoyed it while it lasted. We have a new babysitter her name is Trishelle and the kids love her. I do to since she has been a tremendous help. She graduated High school last year so she is extremely flexible.
In october we were able to go to MN for my brothers wedding. It was my first experience flying standby and needless to say it was an adventure. On the plane the little girl sitting next to Zoe started crying and Zoe threw her hands up in the air and said " I don't wanna hear the crying". Yeah I was pretty embarassed. Then at my brothers wedding reception Zoe asked the DJ to play I Am A Child of God. The funniest part is my brother hasn't had anything to do with the church since he was about 12. We had a good time.
We also have been able to spend a week in Utah with my family before Christmas. It was so much fun to hang out. I love seeing the cousins together and how much fun they have. It bring back memories of all the fun times I had when I was little with my cousins.
Then we went to AZ for Christmas. It was a bummer that Nate was gone but we survived. I enjoyed my time with his family.The kids had a blast and were really fun to watch this year.
After all the traveling it is nice to be home, in my own bed. It seems I am only finding time to update the blog at work, but hopefully pictures will soon follow.

Me: Zoe after we have a snack we are going to lay down for a nap.
Zoe: Aye Aye Captain Mommy!

Well we are surviving with Nate gone. It's not fun, it's not easy and I am hating every minute of it! It wasn't so bad the first week he was gone because I knew he was coming home in a week. Well he left again and I he won't be home for 5 weeks. We are trying to see each other before then but no plans made yet. I am still working nights, but since I don't have anyone to watch the kids during the day I am working every other night, so I can stay up and watch the kids. We have a very nice friend of Nate's from school who is coming to our house to watch the kids when I work, they love her. She even got the HURRAY Annie's coming from Jaxton. I am going to go PRN at work which means I am only obligated to work 8 shifts in 4 weeks. Basically 2 shifts intead of 3 per week. Only 1 day less a week but feels like 10 million bricks off me. I am so excited to finally be home more!
Zoe continues to make me laugh just about every hour! I have found a storytime for almost everyday of the week to keep us busy or should I say keep me awake. There is a free music class at the library that is great, and many trips to the park. I am going to start doing a co-op preschool with some moms in my ward. Zoe will love it. Everyday she asks if she can learn.
Jaxton is still as busy as ever. He loves pretending to be a dinosaur, still loves trains, and finding anything to make Zoe scream! We had our first experience with a burn last night. He touched the burner on the stove. His hand doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. He got all the fingers in the middle and the pointer finger tip pretty good. He just kept holding it and saying ouchy ouchy ouchy. I felt so bad.
Good thing I have these 2 lovies to keep me busy and make the time pass a little faster. One thing is for sure we sure miss our Daddy and can't wait for him to come home!

Lonely In the Lone Star State

So, I arrived today, Sunday, in Texas to start training for my new job as a pilot for American Eagle Airlines... and I miss my family every second that I am gone. I am guessing the fact that I have nothing to do yet is a considerable factor, but it is not the only one. It seems so easy to go away on an exciting new adventure until... the ones you want to share that adventure with aren't there. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for this new career and the challenges that await me. I know that for my family and I this is what we need. I know I am supposed to be here in Texas for the purpose of training so that I can be a good and safe pilot. I just wish challenges like this didn't have to be. I love my wife and two beautiful children so much that it pains me to know that I could be there holding them, instead of on this cold machine pouring out my soul. For my family, and for me, I can make it. I know that there is help from above in times like these. These are the times I rely on that help the most. I love my family and I know that as the father I must do this for us. I pray this time flies by as fast as the plane I will be flying!!! Love you guys!

Emmi's Quiet Book

I loved making Zoe and Jaxton's quiet book so much I wanted to make one for my niece Emmi. She is going to be 5 years old this month so I tried to make the pages a little harder. I really enjoyed making this. Every time I was working on it Zoe would ask if it was for her or her cousin Emmi. Zoe loved every page so I think I will have to remake these pages for her book. I am happy to report that i even came up with some of my own ideas. I already sent it to Emmi and my sister said she hasn't let it out of her sight. I am so glad she likes it.

Finally!!!

The day Nathan has been looking foward to his whole life is finally here. He just got hired by American Eagle Airlines as a first officer. They are a regional company owned by American Airlines. We are all so excited and happy to see his dreams come true. He has worked so hard and now it is paying off. It is kind of funny now that he is done with Air Traffic Control school that he gets a pilot job but as least he has options now. If Air Traffic Control offers something better in the near future we will have a decision to make about which road to take, but for now he has a start on a career, doing something that he loves! We don't have all the details yet about where he will be based, which type of aircraft he will fly or when it actually starts, but we do have the offer letter and thats all that matters! We do know that he will have to do some ground training in Dallas for about 6 weeks starting at the end of August or beginning of September. It will be an adjustment for all of us to have Nate gone so much. I am nervous to be home alone with the kids and still working, but we will all adjust. We are just so happy because this is what we have been waiting for! And maybe I'm happy because i feel a vacation with free flight benefits commin on!!
In July we went to Nate's Family Reunion up around Jackson Hole area. We went camping for a whole week. Yes we slept in a tent for 7 NIGHTS! No there was no running water. There was a water spicket. There was an outhouse. We were able to shower 2 times because we had activities planned at pools. We went to a rec center and a hot spring which had showers. You may be asking yourselves why I would do something so crazy but we had a BLAST. We also got to go to Yellowstone, I had never been before. The whole drive home both kids kept saying how much fun they had camping. They do this reunion every 2 years, and while we were there I kept thinking back to the previous reunion when I had a 17month old and a 4 month old. Now that was crazy. We did have so much fun though. Here are some recent pictures

Okay, so for those of you who know us know that our life has been full of the unknown and ever changing of plans. It all started around this time of year 2 years ago when we were thinking about Nate going back to school for air traffic control. We were going to move to Seattle then we weren't. We were going to move to Colorado in August then we didn't. We decided we would wait till January still didn't happen. We finally did it in August of 2010. Then I couldn't find a job. I found a temporary travel job but every 13 weeks wondering where was I going to work. So the kids and I came to Arizona for work. Then we decided we are going to move back to Arizona. Now we are NOT! Just when I thing we have it figured out it changes.
I went back to Colorado for Nate's graduation. While I was there I packed the ENTIRE apartment and thoroughly cleaned like pulled out the fridge and stove and cleaned behind then the whole 9 yards. The day before I left I found out both my jobs I has prospects of getting fell through. Needless to say I packed the whole house just to unpack it and stay. Hopefully I will find the humor in this and laugh someday!
While I was there Nate took the ATSAT test which is the pre-qualification test for air traffic control (ATC). You have to get at least an 85/100 or you cant have a career in ATC. Its kind of like the nursing boards for me. So even though you pass school you still have to take and pass this very diffucult test. NAte was scheduled to take it on Tues. The people who took it on Mon knew their results 24 hours later. The test was at the Hilton in downtown Denver so we stayed the night before his test so he could just wake up and go down and take the test instead of making the hour and half drive in the morning. He took the test and felt he did good. 24 hours later we are anxiously looking for his results. They are not there. We left the computer up and every time we passed we hit refresh. Still no results. 3 DAYS later we finally got the results. Let me just say Nate is the smartest man alive. He got an amazing 99.1. I cant event express in words how proud of him I am! He has worked so hard and it has finally paid off. The FAA only hires 2 times a year April and October. We are keeping our fingers crossed he will get a job in october. With a score like that they are crazy not to hire him if you ask me!
So like in all things I believe we weren't supposed move because hopefully he will get hired in Denver. Well my house got a good cleaning and We got rid of the stuff we felt like we could live with out. My life sure has been interesting, but I hope it settles down soon!

Arizona

The kids and I made it to Arizona. We have been here for almost 2 months already. Nate has been able to visit us about every 2 weeks. He comes in late Friday night and leaves late Sunday night. Not nearly long enough but better than nothing. We knew this circumstance was going to be hard. It definitely has had its trying moments. As in all situations I have learned a few things. How much I adore and love my husband. I knew I would miss Nate, but I didn't know I would miss him this much. In all honesty I am the type of person who gets a little annoyed when I am in the middle of doing something like,cooking, laundry, dishes, and Nate wants to hug and kiss me. I have learned that I miss that. And the next time he does that I am going to stop what I am doing and enjoy his presence. I might have to read this in a few months to remind myself of this:) Not only do I miss his physical presence I extremely miss his HELP! I have pretty much been a single mom for 2 months now. Everywhere I go, the kids go to. The only place they don't go is to work, but that is not break. My mom was single with 4 kids and I have asked her on several occasions how she did it! Is is very hard, and I am grateful to have a husband who is willing to help and who does an amazing job!
The kids have been enjoying Arizona. However Zoe often says " can we go home now mom". Jaxton celebrated his 2nd birthday while here. We had a small get together with family. He LOVES Thomas the train so I made him a Thomas the train cake. He is getting so big. I bought new shoes for the kids and bought them each the same size! He takes after his big sister and his mom and doesn't stop talking. He has an amazing vocabulary and imagination. He makes me laugh all the time. And is constantly testing his boundaries, which he is learning. He has started putting his cars and trains in time out for crashing into things.He still loves his blankie and baba. I tried to tell him we were going to give the Easter bunny his baba's and he would get toys and candy instead. At first he was ok with it. Then we went to see the Easter bunny and he would have nothing to do with it. Wouldn't look at him, wouldn't even stand next to him. So after I asked him "what's wrong, how come you didn't want to see the Easter bunny?". He said in the sadest voice " the Easter bunny's going to drink my baba". So i guess our plan backfired and Nate and I agree that he will forever subconsiously dislike the Easter bunny. Needless to say, the bunny did not take the bottles away.
Zoe is also getting so big. She is very much into negotiating. Which is making me a little crazy. Zoe has taken to potty training. It was her idea with a little help from Elmo. She loves wearing underwear and have had to have many talks about not showing them to everyone. Zoe cracks me up all the time here are some of her recent sayings:
I am leaving to go to work she comes from the other room screaming " mom mom mom waaaaiiit" so I stop and wait she tells me with her finger pointed at me " member mommy, don't forget to pee at work, k mommy don't forget to pee"

I am laughing at Jaxton and call him a nut. Zoe's wheels immediately start turning and asks " what kind of nut mommy" I say I don't know just a nut. About 3 hours later she comes up to me saying " I'm so silly mommy, I'm a nut, I'm a doughnut" we both busted out laughing.
Well looks like we will be moving back to Arizona. Nate is done with school in 2 weeks and will be driving our stuff back here till he gets a job. I have mixed feelings. I am going to really miss Colorado I hope we end up back there someday. I will have Nate post recent pictures.

Better Late than never

I have gotten a little behind on updating and a lot has happened, so here it goes. We had a great Christmas. We were able to visit my family in Utah the week before. We had a great time and got to see my new baby nephew Kimball. The kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins. Zoe kept calling them her "new best friends." We really did try to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas and went over the story several times, but when you would ask Zoe who's birthday is on Christmas it was always the same answer... "Mine!"


Then of course we celebrated Zoe's 3rd birthday and my 27th birthday, which happens to be the same day. Zoe had been talking about her birthday for about a month before it came, telling every one who would listen that she is going to be 3 and that it is going to be a Hello Kitty birthday. It was really fun. I had to work the night before so I was pretty tired. I came home from work and we opened presents. Then we went to build a bear. Jaxton made a horse and Zoe made the "My Melody" bear which is Hello Kitty's sister. It is so cute, white with hot pink bunny ears. Of all the sounds she could choose, wouldn't you know, she puts in the theme song from Star Wars. It is actually pretty funny. Especially 'cause Jaxton hums along with it. Then we went to this indoor jumping place. The kids had a blast. I think Nate may have had more fun than the kids. We then stopped and got chinese food for lunch. My favorite!!! We were supposed to go to Nate's Aunt's house that evening and have appetizers and play games but the weather was horrible so we stayed home.



Nate started his last semester at school! YAY!!!!! He continues to amaze me daily. He is so smart and continues to blow his teachers away at how well he is doing. His instructor started laughing the other day while he was in the simulator. Nate got kinda nervous wondering what he did wrong. The teacher came up to him and said " I'm sorry, I just couldn't help but laugh". Nate said... " what, why?" The response... " if I didn't know better, I would have thought you were an experienced controller working in the field today." What a compliment. Way to go Nate! Nate has also started working. He does security for new eletrical power plants. He makes sure no one steals anything like the copper wiring. So he sits in his car for 12 hours at night, in the cold, by himself, with no one to talk to, and studies, watches movies or plays his ninetendo DSi. I have to give him props, his job is by far harder than mine since he has no one to talk to. Thanks for all your hard work hunny!
Our next highlight was Nate's 29th Birthday. It was on Sat the 12 and unfortunetely I had to work fri, sat, sun. So we ended up getting Texas Roadhouse takeout on friday night. Then when I got home on the morning of his birthday, he opened his presents and went to IHOP (his favorite) for breakfast.


For Valentine's I wanted to do something special so I decided to make homemade chocolates. It is something I have wanted to do for a while and valentine's was a great opportunity. So I made caramels, chocolate covered caramels, chocolate covered raisens (Nate's fav), orange truffles and almond flavored truffels both rolled in powdered sugar, butter creme filled, mint chocolate filled, cherry chocolate filled, and peanut butter cups. It was so fun. Well... kinda. My creme filling and caramels weren't turning out. Had to remake both, turns out in the higher altitude I was overcooking it by 12 degrees! Once I figured that out it was smooth sailing. Nate was very suprised and so was I at how it turned out.


And the biggest news is...! No, I'm not pregnant. The kids and I are going back to Arizona for 12 weeks. I have been working as a travel nurse and there are no contracts available in our area. So I am going to take a travel assignment at the hospital I worked at in Mesa. I am excited to see all my friends, and work in a familiar environment. Nate will end up staying in Colorado to finish school. The kids and I will stay with Nate's parents. This will be an adjustment for everyone, but we can do anything for 12 weeks!



Quick update on the kids. Zoe is amazing at putting the 24 piece puzzles together. She is completely 100% into anything princess. She loves dressing up in her costumes, wearing dresses, and is always asking for me to make her hair beautiful. She also likes to dress Jaxton up in all her jewelery, princess shoes and crowns. She has quickly moved on from hello Kitty and now loves strawberry shortcake. She loves to do our preschool lessons and is so smart. I don't think she ever stops talking (I wonder who she gets that from). She loves to sing and dance and is always making up new songs. She is so sweet and is always worring about others.
Jaxton will be 2 in march. He definitely has been testing his boundaries and is becoming more and more independent. He loves "Thomas the Train" and can spot a train anywhere. He also really likes dinosaurs and pretending to be a lion. He also likes to talk a lot and has the funniest personality. For instance he finds it extremely funny to throw dirty diapers at me. He will catch me around the corner and throw a wrapped up dirty (wet) diaper at me and bust into the most contagious gut laugh.
They both are so much fun and bring so much joy to our family. They make me laugh daily, and give the best snuggles.



We love you all and hope this message finds you well! We miss all of you we can't see as often as we would like. We think of you all often and you are all in our prayers! Have a wonderful day! Love, The Waters

Smash and Grab

Two of our most precious possessions have been broken this week. Monday night Zoe was dancing for us in the living room when she fell and busted her head on the corner of the train table. She of course was frantically crying and screaming as I tried to 1) stop the bleeding(you know how head wounds bleed), 2) hold some ice on it, and 3) see how bad it was. All the while she is saying "just leave it alone, put some cream on it!" She thinks cream makes everything better. When I finally got a good look I found that it wasn't very big just deep. So Zoe and I ventured out to the closest urgent care for our insurance... yeah, a 20 min drive! The whole time Zoe was stating she didn't want to see the Doctor and that she didn't want any "pokes". (Two weeks ago she had her 3 year check up and she got shots. The image is still very vivid in her memory and she talks about the pokes she got almost daily.)

When we got there she was so brave and did really good. All the staff loved her and did a really good job with her. They kept asking what happened, and Zoe kept saying I just bumped my head. They would say, " did you hit it on the floor, or a table?" Zoe replied, "just my head." As the doctor was cleaning it, Zoe was laying on the bed and kept saying " mom, I wanna get up now." I am the type that when ever my kids get hurt bad like this or have to get shots I want to go to the store and get them something. So of coarse on the way to the doctor I tell Zoe, "if you are real brave then mommy will take you to target." Zoe's response was, " I don't want 2 pokes and I don't want to go to Target." They ended up just using the durabond glue to close it up. It looks really good. And I, of coarse, have to keep stressing that only the Doctor puts glue on our head!


So, we have finally joined those who have been the "victims" of a car break in! Amber and I have been enjoying our apartment and its location until now. We were all ready to go do our weekly grocery run, laughing and chasing kids to the car when Amber stops short and says the magic words... "did you see this?" We walked closer and sure enough, the front passenger side window was smashed and glass was every where. We took a quick glance and all we could see missing was the portable GPS gone. We had recently become accustom to leaving the GPS on the dash all the time, which has turned out to be a mistake. We took the following pictures and are currently waiting for the police to arrive to get a report from them. What a week! Hope next week turns around and is a major improvement, 'cause I am not sure wither we can handle anymore. We hope you all are having a better week than we are and wish you all the best!