Carter's blessing day

Carter Matthew was blessed on October 24, 2010 at 9 am in the Overton 1st ward by his daddy Tyler Matthew

In the circle were:

Grandpa Smith

Papa Wells

Uncle Jeremy

Uncle Colton

Uncle Parker

Uncle Micah

Brother Jensen

RJ Briggs

Bishop Keel

President Matthew Messer

We were so glad President Messer was able to attend. He is one of Carter's namesakes. Carter was named after his daddy, who was named after President Messer.

It was such a wonderful day. He was blessed only a few days before we moved, so it was like a big going away party as well. We are so grateful that so many family members and friends were able to come celebrate with us. Everyone really helped make it a special day for us.

I am also grateful to have awesome photographers in my family. I didn't get my camera out after the blessing. The middle two pictures were taken by my sister in law Parris. The bottom & top pictures were taken by my step mother Dawna. Thanks guys:)

An update...finally!

So, now that we are no longer homeless and we finally have the internet again I can update. We found an old 4 bedroom house in Independence, Missouri. the house doesn't look like much and it definitely has it's quirks, but it's been remodeled inside and it will suit our family just fine for the next year or so. We still have furniture to buy and some boxes to unpack, but for the most part we are all settled in.

So far I love everything except for the snow. We got up for church this morning and it was 11 degrees at 8:30 am, and it snowed all night. I'm ready to pack my bags and move back to Nevada. But, since that isn't really an option I will have to buy some winter clothes and hibernate until I need to go grocery shopping again. But, really, the people here are so nice. Almost everywhere I go someone opens a door for me, and smiles at me, or tells me how cute my kids are. The people in the ward are awesome too. A man asked us how we were doing at church and we said we were doing good. He then proceeded to ask us if we were warm enough in our home and if we had enough food to eat and to call him if we ever needed anything at all. It was really nice. When we first got here we stayed with a family that consisted of a mother and her 3 children. One of her children was married and had a baby. They all lived in her home together and they shared one bathroom. No one ever complained about us staying with them, add us 5 plus all of them was 11 people. I felt so bad that there were so many people, and some of them had to sleep on the couch, so that's why I went to stay with my aunt 3 hours away for a few weeks until Tyler found us a home. But, seriously, talk about generosity.

I know we are blessed to be here. Tyler has a good, steady job. We have a home that suits are family with everything we need. I couldn't ask for more.

If anyone is wondering what we do on a Sunday afternoon....

Daddy makes our hair stand up!

Kate was feeling a little under the weather and didn't really want to cooperate

And if you're balding, you can always chill with dad while he's on the computer...

Seriously, he is balding IN THE FRONT. He looks even more like a little old man and I love it.

I have lots more updating and back tracking to do, but I'm prepared for the challenge.

Homeless

Yes, we really are homeless. Without the goodness of Tyler's boss and wife & my aunt and uncle we would be on the streets. It's been a crazy turn of events. We left Nevada with a plan and everything set in place. We called a property management company and got a list of homes they were renting. We saw a nice 4 bedroom house with a 2 car garage and fenced back yard on the list for $700. It was in a seemingly nice neighborhood. So, since the company only takes cash (even to pay rent) we sent off our applications with our application fee in the mail and were approved for our home. We just had to be to their office by 5pm on Friday to sign the papers.

We looked at pictures of the house before we signed and it looked nice. We only had an hour to pay our security deposit ($600) and rent ($700) before the office closed and we had until Sunday to return the moving truck full of our stuff. Our only option at the time was to sign the papers before we got to see the house. Upon arriving they told us that there was a typo & the home actually rented for $1000 per month and didn't allow dogs. Since they didn't mention the dog thing to us they would let that pass. Our bank wouldn't let us take out any additional money that day. They gave us the key and we would come back for the new keys(after they changed the locks) and to pay the rest. We also found out when we arrived that we couldn't move into the home because it had a co2 leak from the furnace into the bathroom. They said we could store our stuff in the garage until we could move in on Monday. The maintenance was supposed to fix the house for us on Saturday. We decided to spend the weekend with my Aunt & Uncle 3 hours away in Springfield.

After we signed the papers and got the key we went to the house to see it. We soon realized we were in the ghetto. The first neighbor we talked to said that his kids' bikes had been stolen & even some tools. The next door neighbors arrived home drunk (and driving) and gave Tyler a nice big "welcome to the neighborhood" hug. I seriously was afraid to let my kids play outside ever. I didn't want to even leave the house without Tyler. I was scared to be home all day with the kids in that house. The inside was almost as bad. It smelled like smoke and mold. There was signs of water damage in the basement. The cabinets were awful mismatched pieces put together & then painted the same color. There wasn't even a drawer for silverware. The backyard had a big hole in the fence. The garage only opened from the inside and our truck wouldn't even fit. This home was not even worth the $700 per month. Kansas City is a cheap place to live and there are tons of rentals going between $600-$900 that are a lot nicer. We really got ripped off and taken advantage of.

We left my Aunt's house on Monday at 4:00 am so we could drive the 3 hours to Kansas City for Tyler's first day of work. I hung out with his boss' wife that day. Tyler tried to call the office to work something out with them & they said they were too busy to call him back. Tuesday Tyler took the day off to unload the house, and take all of our stuff to storage. That was an added $200. We told the property management company that we wanted our money back because they didn't have the home ready for us to move into on Monday. The breached the contract and we just wanted our money back so we could find somewhere more suitable for us to live. They were rude and told Tyler "not on this planet."

Now we are out $1300 and we don't have enough to money right now to pay rent & a security deposit on another place to live. The company then wrote us an email saying that we still owed the rest of the rent ($300) so they could advertise the house and fix it up. SERIOUSLY??? We didn't cause any damages in that house because we didn't even live there. We put our stuff in the garage and that's it. We are good honest people, and although we could have seriously damaged that house we didn't. I guess the lesson learned is that even though we are honest people, not everyone else is. We know not to make that same mistake again, and we are praying that things will work out for the best. I just hope my Aunt & Uncle aren't sick of us. I'm single parenting yet again while Tyler stays with his boss in Kansas City so he can work.

So, that's the story for anyone that was wondering, and since this is my current journal. I only packed a weeks worth of everything for us so that's all I have. I even had to go buy diapers and wipes for the kids to last until we get a place to live. I'm not asking for pity or anything because I know it will all work out. I'm just a little upset at this company and I hope no one else makes the same mistake that we did.

Traveling and Halloween

So, we left on Wednesday morningish. I don't think I'm ever going to be on time to anything again. I plan and rush and I still can't get everyone out the door when I want. We took a moving truck full of our stuff that Tyler drove and then I drove the truck. Tyler switched off taking the girls with him so I didn't have to juggle all 3 kids. We had to stop in St George for diapers and last minute Halloween costume things. Our goal was to get to Grand Junction that night. We made it at 10 pm and opened presents. My wonderful Granny bought the kids presents especially Carter. She always spoils us. She got up and made us breakfast in the morning and was even late to work helping us. She made goody baskets with toys and things for the kids.

We were in Denver at 5 pm and I really wanted to stop and visit so many people. But, we wanted to make it as far as we could. At about midnight I could not keep my eyes open. We got a hotel room (we should have just napped since we didn't get much sleep anyways) and the kids enjoyed the break from the truck. We got up at 6 am to start driving again. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open so I decided to just get a Mountain Dew because the consequences of falling asleep far outweighed the consequences of drinking a soda (and bonus, it didn't upset Carter's tummy like it did with the girls). We spent the day driving across Kansas. It was the best part of the drive, I thought. No mountains, and straight roads. The kids slept for a while too.

Carter was awesome the whole time. All I had to do was feed him & change him every 3 hours and then put him back in his car seat. He was quiet and slept a lot. It was hard to not be able to snuggle up to him though. The girls did really well entertaining themselves and Kate didn't fuss near as much as we thought she would (she's a BUSY girl).

We made it to Kansas City that afternoon. We signed the papers to our house, dropped the moving truck off at Tyler's office then got a hotel room. The next day we unloaded the truck into the garage and headed to Springfield to my Aunt Jodi's house for trunk or treat. We were too late for the trunk or treat because we had to drop off the moving truck and it took us longer than we thought to find the place. So, we dressed the kids up, took them to a few houses, and they were happy. I let them eat it all when we got back (it was only a few pieces each). We will make it up to them next year...poor kids.

Alivia was Rapunzel (last minute hair idea there haha), Kate was a cow girl, and Carter was a pumpkin (I lost his little hat)

Saddest Halloween ever huh?

Carter 4 weeks

I feel bad. Life has been so crazy that I've hardly taken any pictures of the kids. I know this little man is changing so much. He will probably look different by the time Tyler sees him again. He is 4 weeks today so I made a goal to go out and take some pictures of him. None of them are edited or professional at all, but here they are.

He is such a cute and fun baby. I just love him to pieces. He loves to kick and coo. He grunts when he eats. He reminds me of a little old man. The girls are in love with him and he has been such a wonderful addition to our family.

Our baby boy!

Carter Matthew joined our family on October 12th, 2010 at 5:23 am. He was 6 lbs 15 oz and

20 1/2 inches long. He has been such a good baby so far and we all love him so much! We have been blessed so much lately. We have even been given enough clothes to last him until he's 2.

This is the before shot! Tyler told me I didn't look stupid...guess he was wrong!

This was the first picture taken right after he was born.

Now when I see this picture, I think he looks swollen.

Daddy's first time holding him.

The girls came to visit. It was so good to see them. It was hard for me to be away from them. Alivia has been in love since she first laid eyes on him. She always tells me how adorable he is & how she knew I would have him. She has asked lots of questions, and we've had some good conversations. I just hope she doesn't share everything at church tomorrow...

Kate loves her brother too. She just gives him kisses. When we first brought him home she cried when he did. Now she just tells him to "ssshhhhh!" She gives me his paci when he cries. She can't say his name so she just calls him baby. I guess that works for now.

Livi holds him a few times everyday. I haven't let her hold him by herself yet. I think I will just wait until he's older, and maybe by then he will be too heavy.

Here are a few pictures I snapped today. I am so in love with him!

So, the birth story is pretty boring. I even had him on my due date. I was trying to go into labor so I ran around all afternoon. I even made excuses to go upstairs a bunch of times. I was having lots of contractions like usual but they weren't consistent (like usual). So I told Tyler & he told me I should start timing them. I wasn't convinced so I folded some laundry & told him I would do it after I showered. When I got out of the shower they were pretty painful so I got dressed & timed them. They were 8 minutes apart & hurt so I told Tyler. He showered while I fixed my hair. We slowly packed our bags all the way up & left at midnight. We got to the hospital at 2:00 (UT time) and after answering lots of questions they checked me & I was a 5. I wasn't impressed because I went to the doctor that morning & I was a 3+. But, since I was a 5 I got to stay. They checked me when I got to my room & I was a 6. I asked the nurse to check me a little while later & when she did I was ready to go. Right before she checked me I felt my water break. Since it didn't break all the way she called the doctor to come break it all the way. He showed up around 5:00 and then I started pushing. He was born at 5:23 with no stitches or anything. This delivery was harder on me than the others. I had a harder time during labor & recovery. I'm not sure if it's because my back is out of shape or if it's because I had #3. But, he's here and we are happy!

Another Tyler post.

So as fate would have it, while we were working in portland this summer, I came across a car that I have been looking for for about 10 years. It's purpose? To resurrect my first truck. A little history about this truck for anyone who cares. (if you don't like car talk and my stories, stop reading now because that is all this post will be about.) Ford made these little trucks for about 10yrs starting in 72'. The truck that I acquired is a 76'. The cab is a little bigger but still retained the early look which I personally like better. In 76 this truck came with a small 1.8L 4-cylinder engine. It came from the factory with 74HP. A little under powered. To prove my point, the 1.8L engines of today come with more then double that. The truck is small, fun to drive, and can still serve as a truck. Anyone who knows me, knows that I like things that are different. I also love projects and I love fast cars and trucks. In the late 70's the Courier came stock with a 2.3L 4-cylinder engine that made more HP. (Click Light bulb) I will put one of those in there! After talking to my dad and listening to some old stories of his "glory days" with his friends, it was decided that I wouldn't put just any 2.3L engine in that little truck, but a TURBO charged 2.3L. In the early 80's ford started an SVO (special vehicle operations) unit that is still intact today. The first project? Mustang SVO. Which came with the Fuel Injected 2.3L Turbo. You see where this is going? They branched out and put the drive train in the cousin cars (Thunderbird, Mercury Cougar, ect) as well, making them even more available. 88' was the last year of these little gems. They have become very popular and now they are becoming harder to find. Which is why I said fate, came into play. So now back to the truck. About 2 years before I left for my mission I found this drive train. I obtained it and started the conversion process. I didn't get very far. I had pretty much gutted the little truck and had never gotten to start putting it back together. I came home and started looking, not to seriously just here and there for one of the donors listed above. Summer 2010. Summer sales in Portland OR. Just scanning craigslist. Boom there it is! And in great shape to! O man the post is 10 days old and everyone is looking for these things. There is no way that thing is still there. Email confirms..... "I still have it. What do you want to know." Gulp! So after a bunch of jumping through hoops we get it and it makes back to NV at the end of the summer. So begin the project.

The Recipient!!!

Now I know what you are thinking. Really that pile????? Well i say to you, to each their own and all that cliché stuff. So The proposed swap from the factory had more then double the HP from the factory. Perfect. Even better, after doing tons of research I found that in the last 5 or so yrs these drive trains have become so popular that the parts and aftermarket industry has grown huge. These little drive trains with stock parts are capable of well over 250HP!! What!! Ya that is what I am talking about!!!!! So now you know why. Not to mention the truck has nostalgia! So now you are thinking well lets see this car. Ok Ok. You had better sit down.

The Donor!!!

Now that thing is ugly. So you see why i have no feelings of sadness for ripping the guts out of this car. I will keep you posted (if you care) on the progress. So back to the story. After doing some more looking and research i found out that there is going to be a bunch of modifying. I must have over looked the fact that the 2.3L that came in the early couriers must be different then the 2.3LFI turbo because it is a tight fit. So the quick easy bolt in swap that I thought was waiting for me, has become a full blown project. It is going to take longer then I had hopped but when it gets done it will be sweet!! It will be close to show type but it will be a nice daily driver! So there you have it. The thing that is filling my time, when I have some to spare, getting this think at least to drive before we head to MO in a couple of weeks. We shall see. I am so excited for this thing to happen!! 10yrs in the making and it is finally happening!!! With my luck and skill and life things, it will probably be another 10 before it is close to done. Well all I hope you will be able to see my vision and enjoy this transformation with me. I know I will!!!