I know.....it's shocking!!!

Okay, yes I know it's very shocking - but I am actually blogging. I figured it was time to start up again. I just needed a break from blogging - I don't know if anyone else ever gets that way? Plus 3 kids keeps me super busy - as all of you moms know.

So, here's the update: we are still in Utah and trying to keep it that way - CA is super over priced plus the schools aren't very good.
Porter is still flying for his boss out of San Jose and commutes there when he needs to fly - although he is not near as busy as he was. Yah!
I am still working my 1 shift a week at the surgical center and doing what mom's do: shopping, cleaning, cooking, carpooling, homework, counseling, bed-tucker-inner and a million and one other things.
Courtney is in 4th grade and loving it - she has some really cute friends. She is also on a swim team and trains several hours a day 4-5 times a week - and she's doing great!
Jake is Jake! He is in 2nd grade, still playing soccer and he is my collector. He collects anything and everything. Rocks, cool little do-dad's, money, shoelaces, or whatever he can find. Every time I turn around Jake has a little pile somewhere.
Tanner is almost 4 - I can't believe it - and in pre-school. He loves to do everything Courtney and Jake do - but he is our entertainer. You never know what funny thing is going to come out of his mouth!

So that's the low down on us Isom's! I've decided there is so much to blog that I will go back and give the highlights of the past few months. But I wanted to start with our family trip to Yellowstone in September. This is the first time just Porter and I have taken our kids on a vacation. We usually go with my family or his, so it was really fun to go with just us. The kids loved Yellowstone! It was a really fun family trip. :)

Mammoth Hot Springs

Isn't that amazing? This picture does it no justice. This elk was huge!

This is one of my favorite pictures.

You can see where everything burned in the big fire 20 years ago.

Out to eat. YUM YUM

Swimming at the hotel.

This is at a bear preserve in West Yellowstone. Courtney and Jake got to go into the bears enclosure (when they weren't in there) and hide food for them. Then the bears would come out and find the food. It was so cool .

They had wolves there too, we even got to hear all of them howling.

We spent lots of time driving in the car.

You got to hit Old Faithful. She still is faithful.

Yellowstone Lake. It was pretty chilly - It even snowed for a few minutes.

Porter encouraging Jake to break the rules! (No....not Porter)

Yellowstone Lake - it was so pretty.

Tanner called them bufflers or mufflers.

This is what they call the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Hopefully very soon, I will give the highlights of the past few months.

Courney's 9th & Jake's 7th Bday

Courtney's 9th bday (way back in May)!!! She just had a few friends over - they had their hair and make-up done at Sweet-n-Sassy then came back to our house for cake and ice cream. It was really fun. :) I think Courtney had a good bday.






Courtney and Nicole - they have been friends since 5 years old!

Courtney and Lilly; she was a good friend to Courtney at school.
Brynne, Court, Nicole, Allie and Lilly. Cute girls!

Jake's 7th bday party. Boys are so different than girls!!! They were like animals running around crazy in our house. I had to send them outside. Most of them were from his 1st grade class - I don't know how is school teacher lasted a whole year.

We had a guy come and bring some cool insects and animals. It was the coolest party we have ever had for Jake! Everyone just sat down and soaked in everything the guy said. It was really cool - I highly recommend this party. It would even be so much fun for adults.

This is a chinchilla, it was super soft.

Legless lizard - it's not a snakeAfrican millipedesBlack scorpions! These were the coolest - and they did have their stingers. He said they were usually gentle!TarantulasMonitor Lizard. We touched it, but he wouldn't let us hold it. Albino pythonReticulated Python. It weighed around 80 lbs and it was 13 feet long. It stunk!!! This was a really fun party!

Just when life seems settled.......BAM!

No Kidding!

Some of you may have heard - most of you probably haven't - but Porter got a new job in San Jose, California. California? I don't think I've ever wanted to live there, actually (as Tanner would say) I know I have never wanted to live there. I don't mind visiting to go to Disneyland and Sea World, but to live there? I'm a little unsure of this reality facing me. I'm trying to be excited about it, but the excitement hasn't come yet.

With the way the housing market is going, his boss just can't afford his Lear anymore. But we truly feel blessed - Porter got a very good job offer immediately. It was very sudden though, last Friday he got the job offer and 2 days later, on Father's day, he left for Florida for 2 weeks of training on the new airplane. Can I just say whirlwind? Three weeks ago - I didn't know what was coming.

So, that leaves Porter in Florida training, and me trying to pack and move out of our house by myself. Can I just say I'm a LITTLE stressed. I hate moving. Did I mention I HATE moving? I shouldn't complain, because when you pray for help, Heavenly Father sends you angels. Literally - I had 7 women from my ward show up and helped me pack my whole kitchen, I've had several good friends watch my kids, Cynde (Porter's mom) took Tanner to Wyoming for a few days, we've had several men in our ward show up - more than once- to help move big things out, and of course my family has helped a ton. I feel so blessed.

Porter has 2 months to commute to San Jose, while we find somewhere to live. We are moving all of our stuff into storage and are taking pretty much just our clothes to my mom's house until we move to San Jose.

That's my crazy life! So If I don't blog for a while, you know why!

I went SKY DIVING, I went Rocky Mtn climbing, I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named FuManchu

Okay, If you can believe it - I can actually say I have done 2 out of the 3 things in Tim's song!!!


Holy Crapola! Porter and I went skydiving - yes I said skydiving - today for our 10th anniversary. I'm sure it doesn't surprise anyone that Porter took the plunge - but I really did it too! June 9, 1998 is when our little family began and we sure celebrated it today. :) I guess you could compare getting married to jumping out of a plane - a little crazy, sometimes you feel like your falling fast, exciting, and you just hope and pray for a soft landing!

It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I don't think Porter believed that I would actually do it, but I did! I wasn't even that nervous until we were almost to 18,000 feet and my instructor finished strapping us together. I started freaking out in my mind as I watched 4 people jump before me and we were sliding down the bench to the door. But when we got to the door and I looked out - I wasn't nervous anymore - just so excited! They have you lean forward, backwards, and then you fly out the door as you lean forwards again. I can't even explain the feelings I had. I wasn't scared at all - just overwhelmed with amazement, adrenaline, exhilaration, and excitement. You are falling so fast, but it doesn't really even feel like it. Then they open your parachute and you slowly finish your way down to the earth! AMAZING! I want to go again - I am proud of myself for doing something I didn't think I could.


Here is the group we went with. The second one from the left is one of Porter's best friends from flight school, Brandon Olsen. It was also his bday today and he brought his girlfriend and his brothers.

Right now

(Okay so I just finished writing a marathon post! I guess I had a lot on my mind. So it may take a few minutes to read.)



Tanner is asleep and Courtney and Jake are at school and I have maybe a 1/2 hour of peace and quiet before all heck breaks loose. So, I was playing a mindless game on the computer (Bejeweled - totally a waste of time but I love the little noises it makes) and I was deep in thought, so I decided I would blog!



Porter comes home late tonight after 16 days of being gone - I can't wait!!!!! I was thinking about taking the kids to the airport about midnight and surprise him - but midnight? Seems a little late! He'd probably love it - but I would pay with onry (sp?) children for the next 3 days. Still might do it.



I just have to say I am so thankful for my family. I honestly don't know what I would do without them. I know people always say that - but I truly mean it. I was thinking I was getting pretty good at basically being a single mom - but it's only because I have great parents and a brother and sister-in-law who help me out a ton!

I'm sure my mom gets sick of me calling to see if she can take Tanner for an hour while I help in Jake's class or have some appointment - but if she's sick of it - she hasn't said anything to me and she's always happy to do it. Like yesterday, It was Courtney's bday and my dad took Tanner most of the day so I could get ready for her party and have the party with just the girls. Totally saved my day! They save my day on a weekly basis!



Just a cute side note- yesterday when my dad took Tanner this is what he said to my dad, "Papa, I have a plan. First, we are going to have a Creamie. Then, we will go plant flowers. Next, we will go on a bike ride then we will play basketball." Tanner had the whole day planned out, and they followed it exactly. At the end of the day, Tanner was so proud because they did his plan.



Thankfully, my boys love working with their grandpa and he's teaching them great things. Usually every week they help him weed his planters and do jobs around the yard. My boys live for it!!! He makes it so fun and is so patient with them, and of course throwing a baseball, playing hoops and a bike ride are usually involved!



So, Courtney turned 9 yesterday! 9????? How old does that make me feel. Way to old. I remember being that age and it doesn't feel like it was too long ago. She is way fun right now! Sometimes a little emotional - but hey she's a girl! She's my little helper - the boys 2nd mom. (Which can be good and bad!) She is almost 5 feet and wears a size 6 1/2 women's shoe. At least I can say she's 9 now -not 8 - because nobody believed me. She's a smart girl - she'll go far in life. Okay - I'm going to brag a little so if you don't want to hear it - just skip to the next paragraph- but I am so proud of her. She scored in the top 10% of the nation in 5/6 categories on the national Iowa test. Way to go Courtney pie!



So - for my sanity I am taking a quilting class every Tuesday night. I love it! I have the cutest babysitter come and I get to leave!!! I think when my quilting class is done - I am still going to have her come so I can do something for just me. Learn something new each week so my brain doesn't turn to mush. Anyone want to join me or know of any fun classes???? Or girls night every Tuesday?



Jake, Jake, Jake - he's my little superstar. He's so sweet and happy. Things roll off of him like butter - maybe that's just part of being a boy. (Do things even actually roll off butter?) Anyways, he's happy go lucky! He just wants a ball - baseball, soccer ball, basketball - and he's happy. If you want Jake to know that you love him, just spend an hour playing 1-on-1 with him! And sad but true - it happened (Emily you know what I'm talking about) -the other day, I reached for his hand - like always - and he dodged it, smiled a little embarrassed and asked me if he could just not hold my hand. :(



My Tanner boy had his last day of pre-school today! I can't believe it's been a whole year. He is my little angel. There could be nobody cooler to hang out with all day. I love it - every time we ride in the car, he asks me, "What do you want to talk about?" He loves to be a big boy and play with Courtney and Jake and their friends. He is also riding Jake's old bike with training wheels on. He could probably do it without them, but they are for my peace of mind. He also dribbles a ball like nobody's business!



So this was long and sentimental, but I haven't blogged one of these in a while. So if anyone made it all the way to the end - thanks for listening!