Birthday Pictures!

This is Caleb walking...!

Let it Snow!

Birthday Time!

Life is continuing on. I am so excited for this week of no school, no nothing. Whoo hoo! Well, Steve has work and I wish that I had work. Recently I lost my job babysitting. His father lost his job, leaving the fact that the dad will be home all the time so he can watch his son. Boo. So I need to find another job, and fast. We were counting on that money for so many things. And I really don't want to go into debt. Sad day, well onto happier subjects.

I am making my own Thanksgiving Dinner! Yay! But I am scared spitless that it will all come out wrong. Well, I am not in charge of the turkey, Bekah volunteered that and apple pie. I got everything else. I hope they are all ready to take food home with them, we got a lot of it. I think we came out on top though. We were able to get everything for under $100! Whoo! To feed 6 people mind you.

Caleb's birthday is on Wednesday and I am so excited. We got him some shaped blocks and a toy laptop. Ya ya! I am so excited for him to open it up. I didn't know that I could get so excited to give someone something. I am just as bad as a little kid. I want to give it to him now instead of waiting. As far as cake goes, I think I am going to get him some chocolate cupcakes. OR rather make them. We love that. And his favorite meal is Mac N' Cheese so that is what we will have for dinner.

I am trying to switch him over from a bottle to a sippy cup. So that he only needs a bottle when he goes down for the night. I am not exactly sure how to do it though. So we will see. Well, that is basically our life right now. Have a great one!

Halloween Pictures!

Play Time

This is Play time with Daddy! It is a new game that Caleb just learned and would LOVE to play it all day long! So much fun and so cute! Love you! Enjoy!

Blueberry Pancakes

If you can't tell, this is Caleb eating his first Blueberry Pancake. He is also eating scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. He ate and ate that morning. We have conference on in the background in case you can't tell. Love you!

Nowadays...

Well, school has started for Steve. It started on September 9. He is taking his IBC class this year which is worth 12 credits and Visual Media which is worth 2 credits. The IBC program is so difficult and demanding that they recommend that you don't have a job or any other classes while you are taking this course. Which is physically impossible for the students who are married and have to provide for their families. Which Steve does. He provides for us and works at the school and has more classes. So in essence he is breaking all the rules that they set. Yay for us. So just in case you don't know, IBC is where the students make a new business and run it on campus. They have to come up with the idea and they present their idea to their company and the company has a president and a CEO and everything which the students choose themselves. Then the company presents the idea to bank loan officers and they decide if that idea seems credible enough to give a bunch of money to. Then the students run the company and try to make money. Yay. So Steve is going to be gone a bunch working with the company and trying to make money and make good grades.

With my life. Well, I am babysitting Aaron just about everyday and Aaron and Caleb just love playing together. They discovered our Tupperware the other day and ummm well lets just say that they had fun and made a mess. I am also cleaning the apartments that we live at after the families that have lived there move out. So I clean the apartment in between tenants which is nice so their stuff is out of the apartment and out of my way. I get paid pretty good and the work is a as you need it thing so it isn't all the time. I am also staying home and taking care of Caleb, the house, my husband, and cooking, and everything else. I am a pretty busy woman. So you will never guess what I did on Saturday. I hired someone to clean my bedroom and do my laundry. Yes, I did. It only cost me $15. Sweet! I deep cleaned my whole house while Steve was away at his business retreat. He was gone for 2 1/2 days. Oh my goodness my house was a mess. But it still hurts when your mother comes to visit and says that you are much different now cuz you used to be the clean one. Ouch.

Caleb is 10 months old now. He is crawling like a maniac and trails furniture all the time. He is just itching to walk, but isn't quite there yet. Hopefully by Christmas, but I am hoping Halloween. He will walk if you hold onto his hands and I have seen him stand by himself a couple of times. He has 6 teeth now. 4 on top and 2 on bottom. He eats the food we eat except that he likes a couple of vegetables now but they are all baby food. I can't get him to eat real vegetables yet so that is what he gets. He has tons of hair, it is long and fine and sticks straight up. Adorable. He weighs about 20 pounds and is an adorable thing. We will post pictures soon. Maybe.

rachel's

hey guys!!!! i am finally posting on the blog again!!! whoop whoop!! ok so the latest in "Rachel World" is that school has finally started again and the AP classes have begun. for those of u who dont know im taking AP English III, AP US History, AP Psycology & Sociology, AP Music Theory, and Pre-AP PreCalculus. ur thinking, holy crap wut the heck, n im thinking i know right?!?!?! wut the heck is wrong with me, is wut im thinking. but wutever. so i wrote a song called All He Sees. gots to go!!
love
Rach

Dads...

So life continues. We have lived in our "new" apartment for a while now... about 2 1/2 months. I have been babysitting this little boy for a little while now. He is a year old, just older than Caleb. But he is a bully. He is a hitter/pusher/shover/stand on top of-er. What can I do to get this through to his tiny little head?! I am "punishing" him, by just putting him in time-out for a little bit and then talking to him about it. It doesn't seem to be doing any good though. I don't know what to do. I'm frustrated. It pays pretty good though, we needed the money to get through the month with all of our bills and crap piling up. Sometimes I wish that part of growing up never happens. Well Caleb is doing good. He is crawling all over the house, so it is an extra incentive for me to keep the house clean. Although, it does seem like I am doing ALL of the work around the house ALL of the time. I do the laundry, dishes, vacuuming, straightening up, etc. Why is it that men think that just because moms work from home it isn't a full time job. Our job ends when he goes to bed and begins when he gets up. It isn't a 9-5 job. It is all the time and it never ends. The only difference between his job and mine is the location. And mine lasts longer and I don't get paid. He needs to realize that. That small detail. He doesn't change ANY diapers Monday through Friday. NONE. Then on the weekends, he still whines if it is a poopy one. HOW DARE HE!!!! UUUUGHGHGHGHGHG! Sorry I needed to vent. I'm excited to see my family soon. One week and counting. Whoo- Hoo!

Joe is posting!

Hi everyone!

I just thought I'd write a quick post to update everyone. I start school this coming monday at Baylor (WOO HOO!), so I'll be leaving for Houston after church this sunday. Our house is almost ready to close, and we will go down on the 30th to sign everything and have it officially be our house. Some pictures and maps and such can be found here.

We're really excited to be becoming home owners and hope that we can stay there for quite some time. It's big enough that we can probably run a small day care out of the house.

So anyway, I'm leaving for Houston this Sunday, Leah and the boys will be coming down sometime after August 19th when Leah's class ends, and we'll probably be moving all of our stuff down sometime between those two dates, but we're not sure quite when that will be yet.

In other news, Jonas is now officially crawling and started immediately standing up and trying to walk. It's crazy to think that only a couple months ago he couldn't even sit up on his own and is now going everywhere! When it rains it pours I guess. Cannon is doing great, and is walking running spinning and dancing all over the house all day long. Being able to be home with him some this summer has been SO much fun. I'm not looking forward to three weeks without my family, but I'm sure it will go by quickly with both Leah and I being in school. Anyway, I love you guys and we'll see you later!

Joe

Some pics of Caleb

His beginning to crawl stage

This is him sitting up.

A cute picture of Caleb's front two teeth

At the zoo in Utah. Can you see the tiger?

We were measuring up to the apes at the zoo.

Here is how Caleb measures up.

Our new messy house

Caleb's room from the doorway

The hallway

The kitchen part 1

The kitchen part 2

The living room and only piece of furniture that we own

Awwwwww....

Caleb at 6 months-ish

Back in Rexburg!

Okay, So I NEVER thought that I would be so happy to be back in Rexburg, ID. It is difficult to relay the experiences we went through while living with Steve's Grandma Kofoed in Blackfoot. Let's just suffice it to say, Two women cannot live under the same roof.

Well we are back in Rexburg and we are loving it. At least I am. I think my family is too. Caleb is no longer sharing a room with us. It is warm enough here that he doesn't have to do that anymore. Which makes Steve happy. And me. Our apartment is very nice. We live very close to some of our friends and I go over there alot to play on her Wii. Which I like and Steve likes that I can go out and have some fun. He isn't a fan of the internet here because he can't play his video games very well online. Which stinks for him, but I am like, "Awwww, thats too bad honey." HEHEHEHEHE. We don't have our television yet, so I am stuck watching shows online. Which isn't my favorite thing to do. All of our stuff is being stored at our friends house under it actually, in a storage place. And we are getting it today. So, no pots and pans or silverware or anything for the past about week. Which is EXTREMELY difficult to do when you are trying to be on a diet. Seriously. So I have a hold on my diet until I can cook again. I know, probably not the best idea but it's what it is.

Caleb went in for his 6 month check up on Wednesday. He weighs 17.4 pounds and is 25.5 inches long. He is in the 49% for his weight, the 18% for his height, and the 8% for his head size. SO I have a short and chubby baby. So it isn't necessarily that he is a chunk, but that he is short so he looks like a chunk. LOL. I don't know, it sounds better to me. He definitely doesn't have a Nelson head, which is good on his part. He was blessed. We are trying to feed him sitting up now so that he can eat with us at the table when he is a little older. Well, Life is good. Hopefully I will see you all soon!

Life in Blackfoot

So as you all probably know, we are no longer living in Rexburg and are no longer managing apartments. We were told we needed to be out of our house in 3 days (over the weekend), and so we asked Steve's grandmother if we could stay with her at her house in Blackfoot, Idaho. So here we are until we can find another job.

So the job hunt is on. We haven't had much of any luck yet. Steve has an interview with Quest tomorrow in Idaho Falls. Hopefully, he will get that job. We will find out tomorrow if he got it or not. I really really, REALLY hope that he does. I could go for that. I am still having trouble getting comfortable at his grandmothers house. We are freezing at night because we are living in the basement, but I am very, very grateful that she opened up her house to us. It was very nice of her. Plus, once you start living along, you get used to a certain way of living and a certain routine that you do. So I don't blame her for getting upset sometimes that we disrupt that. She is wonderful, and I love her.

I am excited for tomorrow. Okay, Caleb. He can sit up on his own for short periods of time now. He can roll over all the way now. He has only done it from his belly to his back a couple of times, but he has still done it. He is eating solid foods now! I finally got him to eat it, but mostly through a syringe rather than a spoon. He is still having problems with the spoon, so I hope I am not hindering him by feeding him through the syringe.

Well I got to go. It is bedtime, and I have to work out in the morning. My legs are soooo sore. I hope that this will help me lose the weight. Love Ya!

Caleb giggles!

Don't judge Steve too harshly by this video. As those of you know, you will do anything to get your little ones to giggle. This is just too cute, I hope you like it. Enjoy!

By the way, I love you and I look forward to showing off our new car to you soon.

PICTURES!!!!!

Update...

Okay, Lets see whats going on since we wrote last. At Caleb's 2 month doctor appointment, ya know the one where he gets all the shots, he weighed in at 11.2 pounds and 22.8 inches long. He is growing fast. He has started the making spit bubbles stage. He doesn't know how he is doing it yet, he just does it. He loves to stand up with help of course. He is talking a lot more now. And finally learning how to smile. He does it then I think he forgets how to do it. But then when he figures it out he is very smiley. He loves his baths now. He splashes a little in the water and cries when I take him out. I am following mom's advice and letting him be naky for 15-30 minutes each day after I bath and lotion him up to help with diaper rash. He likes being naked. He loves his monkey toy. He follows it with his eyes and head when I play with him. He would rather look at the monkey than his mommy. But that is okay as long as he is learning. Questions? I can't think of anything else that he is doing right now. That is new anyways.

Okay, Now the older Kofoed news. Ummmm..... Steve and I are trying to go a week without television or video games. He has been getting distracted too much and having to stay up late doing homework which is never good. The staying up late part not the homework part, although that does stink. I am going back to school part time starting on February 22, 2010. I qualify for grants but no scholarships. That is okay with me. Work is going good. We are sometimes sick of it, but we get over those times. Steve loves playing with Caleb when Caleb decides to play back. It is snowing here in Rexburg, Idaho. It always is right? Hopefully it will stop soon so we can have the Spring. I look forward to that. We are planning to come and visit all you in Utah come April around graduation time. Hopefully we will be able to get a new car while we are down there. Well, have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Love,

Sara, Steve, and Caleb

The Jonas & Caleb Movie

ok. the reason this is called The Jonas & Caleb Movie is because Jonas is on the left. if Caleb ws on the left, I would have called it the Caleb & Jonas Movie. . . this starts out dark, but gets better in a minute. the boys are way cute, but the background noise is too funny. we are the weirdest people on the planet sometimes. you can hear Cannon playing with the dog as well as all of us talking. . .and proof that Steve did go & get salt :)

Jonas's blessing

Grandma & Jonas -- isn't he so cute?! and where did he get that cute suit?

Christmas with the frogs--everyone else is playing connect 4 x 4 & I get the frog :)

now, I realize this isn't Jonas' blessing, but what a cute family ! & I didn't get a picture of all of them in texas on sunday :) so here it is.

this is right after Joe gave him his blessing. . .the 2 Joes :)

Grandma & Cannon sharing golfish during the blessings. (& right after) we like eating sideways.

christmas in texas

Cannon's cheesy grin--upside down (since that was the only Bekah could get it on camera)

Cannon got a book about noah's ark & he needs to read it right away.

Here is our teeny christmas tree--sidways--before we started opening presents :)

How cute is this?! Cannon with his suffed friend from ice age who I can't remember his name...

so he can talk on the phone --so much for his dad's super powers (read shirt "my had has super powers")

the dog whisperer has nothing on Cannon. he really speaks dog--and loves doing it :)

mavs game

pregame warmup--Dirk is at the top of the key facing us--some of the players didn't get the white jacket memo :)

Bex & Rachel before the game.

John & Drew are ready to enjoy the show.

the final score--I told you it was a close game :)

John wanted to see a mavs game while he was home, so he watched on on tv & we were able to get tickets to another home game. we had to buy 6 tickets, so we invited Drew Pepper to come with us. it was a fun game & we had good seats. Kevin met us there & had a hard time finding a place to park, so he was late for the game, but not too late. John got a free Dirk poster, but somehow we didn't get home with it. it was raining, & there was an accident on the freeway just as we were driving on, so I tried to go further north to miss it & got lost in downtown dallas. not such a good thing at nite, in the rain, in downtown--but we did see some cool looking clubs, a couple of police cars & got home ok after driving for way too long. we did miss the traffic after the accident, tho :)

john airport pictures & bike ride

John & Mom at the airport--doesn't he look excited?!

picnic in the park by whiterock lake--see the bikes in the background?

Rachel & John at the airport--no tears Rach!! she did ok until we left :)

at home--as you can see, Bex isn't feeling well (nothing to do with John leaving, maybe)

Kevin gave John a father's blessing--this was afterwards :)

a few pictures from idaho

Jonas & Caleb :)

Jonas & Caleb in their white suits--Jonas is sockless, you can't see Caleb's feet.

what a good lookin family!!

4 generations. . . sideways :)





ok. I wanted to be able to show the 2 boys side by side, but I can't figure out how to turn the pictures--so we have lots of sideways shots--sorry. if I can get it figured out (feel free to offer suggestions) I'll fix it :)

John

so, we took John to the airport sat. around noon & just left him there with about a million other troops waiting for their plane to take them overseas. under guard. yes, there were guards outside & inside the area with machine guns & frownie faces. reminded me of europe & brazil. almost. anyway, I wanted to stay with him until he boarded the plane, but Kevin & Rachel were not into that, so I had to leave. they were my ride home. but, I sent him with some fudge & brownies, so I felt a little better. sorry to say, the fudge exploded on the way, so all of his stuff was covered in chocolate :( he's a little mad at me.
he called this am from kwait waiting for a plane to afganastan & then to his base. hurry up & wait. but he's ok & the brownies are fine. :)
we had fun while he was here. not too much since everyone was working or at school. but it was good. we watched movies, played games, went to a Mav's game (it was fun), rode bikes to and around the lake & ate a picnic lunch. my bike tire kept going flat, so every few minutes we had to stop & pump it up. after lunch, Kevin patched it & we started out again only to find that Rachel's front tire had gone flat while we ate lunch. after patching that tire, the brakes did funny things & wouldn't let the tire move, so Bex & Rach took it to the shop on the way home & we rode around the lake. it was a beautiful day & we had lots of fun. friday Kevin & John went to adventure landing (in richardson) & played golf, rode in go carts, played in the archade & hit balls in the batting cages. we showed him off at church & all the girls want to date him now. he wasn't impressed with the single's ward tho. . . but all my friends in primary are ready to fix him up, as well as the peppers in mansfield. we'll see how that goes. life is good.
spring is here & we are all fighting the allergy sickness. just enjoying the weather & looking for tornadoes. the wild flowers will be out soon. ahhh. springtime in texas.
hugs & love to all--mom :)

A growing little boy

Hey everyone!

This is the all famous Kofoed's in Idaho. So life. Life here is cold...ish. I mean, it's been snowing and raining this past week/days. The highs are in the 30s. Which has been kind of warm. It was very sunny and happy today. I love it. Caleb is growing...and fast. I can't believe how big he is. He seems like he is 8 pounds. Or more. I love it. He can smile now. It is the absolutely cutest thing in the world. It doesn't matter what kind of day you've had. If he smiles at you, it melts your heart right away. I think thats why babies are so cute, so that their parents don't hurt them. Today THE coolest thing happened, I was visiting Steve at work and he took off Caleb's blanket to show him off to the office, and Caleb of course woke up. He looked around saw people he didn't know and a place he didn't know and cried a loud, scared kind of cry. I got up immediately and went over there. As soon as he saw me, he stopped crying! How cool is that? He recognizes me! He knows me! He knows my voice! I LOVE IT! Last night, when Steve got up with Caleb, Caleb was apparently being very frustrating and such, and then at the peak of Steve's frustration, Caleb looked at him at smiled. Steve goes, "Don't smile at me, I'm upset at you." But Caleb kept smiling and so Steve smiled and it just melted the daddy one's heart. I love being a mommy.

So Medicaid. We went there to apply for me since Steve's insurance doesn't cover prescriptions and I need prescriptions. Apparently to be on medicaid on a family plan, for 3 people, you must make below $317 a month. SO it doesn't look like we will be doing that. Any other ideas? To be on Steve's insurance, the insurance cost goes from $275 a semester to $975 a semester with me as a dependent. HOLY CRAP! That is a lot of money. Caleb is covered on Medicaid until he is a year old and then... idk. Hopefully we will have a plan by then.

School is going good for Steve. He likes his classes. He doesn't really like his business teacher, but he is giving him another chance, so I hope he will come to like him more and more so that the semester goes smoothly. Work is going good. He got a promotion and now is the Scholarship Specialist. SWEET! Which means a pay raise. WHOO- HOO!!!!

Work is going good. We are busy and a little crammed, but it all works out.

WE love our life here in Idaho and wouldn't have it any other way! LOVE YOU!

Additions

So, it has been requested that I share some additions to the blog. Especially concerning Dad and I's trip back home. Particularly about picking up those guys just outside of Quanah, Texas. (Quanah is about 350 miles outside of Dallas) Well, here goes:

We were driving along and we see this car pulled over on the side of the road. Dad was driving, so he wasted no time in getting over to the side of the road in order to help. I look and I see that there are two men there, no women or small children running around. Dad gets out and goes to see if he can help. I sit there and I'm thinking that if Dad can't help (which it doesn't look like he's doing, he's just standing there, talking) then I definitely can't help. Also, I'm thinking of all the horrible things that people do to people who stop to help on the side of the road. So, I keep checking back to make sure that Dad is still upright and not sprawled on the side of the road with a bullet hole through him somewhere. Another thing going through my mind is that both our phones are dead and so I can't call 911 just in case Dad does get himself shot. I suppose I could have moved to the driver's side in order to make a quick exit, leaving Dad behind to fend for himself. However, if it had come to this, I'm sure Dad would already be bleeding and dying on the side of the road. Then, Dad came back into the car and said that we needed to make room for the two men whose car they were abandoning on the side of the road. This we did, then the men came in. Only one of them could speak English, the other was totally Spanish-speaking. Once they were in the car, all my thoughts of danger vanished. I knew that Dad would not have invited them in if he thought there was even the remote possibility of something bad happening. I felt so comfortable with them there that I fell asleep for most of the way home. This just illustrates my ridiculous nature.

New Internet and other unrelated events

Hey all, this is Bekah. Note that I did not say "Y'all", but rather, hey all. Just for my Yankee relatives who happen to read this. :p

So, Dad and I got safely back home to Texas last Friday night/Saturday morning. Let me tell you all about it. So, we left the funeral (Aunt Ardell died) on Wednesday in Preston, ID and went up to Idaho Falls to collect my school stuff that Aunt Bea was gracious enough to store for me. We left her house just after 6pm (maybe 6:30 or closer to 7) and went to Ogden. Then, we loaded up the van that I bought from Gramma and Grampa earlier that morning and got some food from Gramma and then hit the road again. We arrived in Springville just before 1am, and boy was that great! Joe was asleep on the floor directly in front of the door and Leah was asleep in bed. Funny stuff. Then, the next morning (Thursday I believe), while Dad was taking Joe to school and Leah to the grocery store (I was playing with Cannon and Jonas), the check engine light came on. So, we stayed there all morning, and Leah and I actually switched cars, so now Joe and Leah have the van and I have the Taurus. We left Springville at about 1-1:30pm and then Dad got lost trying to get to the canyon that we leave Springville out of. We stopped for directions in Spanish Fork and met some nice people. Then we headed to Denver. We stopped for the night in Longmont, CO at the home of my friend, Vanessa. Longmont is about 45 minutes north of Denver. Friday morning we woke up just before 9, so an early start just didn't happen. we went thru Denver (again) at about 10:30 and headed south on 25. We stopped in a little town called Las Vegas in New Mexico. Dad wanted to make sure that I knew how to do stuff like check tire pressure, oil levels and transmission fluid levels. Then, we got lunch. Then, Dad did a crazy u-turn into oncoming traffic. Scary! Then, outside of Quanah, Texas, there was a car pulled over and so Dad stopped to help. We were there for about 15-20 minutes and then the guys who were in the car got into our car and we drove them to Dallas. We dropped them off at the Jack-in-the-Box right by our house. We finally arrived home just after 2am Saturday morning. Also, our phones all died before we even got to Las Vegas, NM so Gramma was freaking out. But it's all good. Ooh. I have got to get going.

I love you all!!!

Home Safely

Hey everybody, this is John, home safely and loving life in the great state of Texas!

I've been home a couple of days now, but this is the first time we've been able to get internet here, so here it goes.

Not a whole lot going on, watched some Cowboys and Mavs games, hung out with the family, and did a few odds and ends around the house. I'm really sorry about not being able to come up to Utah, just know that I was at least as excited to come up there as you Utah folks were to see me. the good and bad news? I'll be there soon enough, I'm guessing Spring 2010 sometime, probably April-ish. I'm going to post a few pics, and those of you with Facebook can see all of them, but here are a few highlights.

also, any questions you guys have, feel free to ask on here, and I will try to answer them.

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here I am on top of a Mountain overlooking the city of Asadabad.

the Hindu Kush, where the Western edge of the Himalayas comes through

The city of Asadabad

Half way up the mountain.

showing the path we climbed up the moutain.

the climb still to come

The Afghan beard. Ahhh yeah....

The Market in Asadabad

the main road of Asadabad, complete with the mosque and a small herd of sheep.

a farmer's field, as seen from my gun turret.

Die mountain!!

the Kunar River

my gun turret.