Grandpapa and Ggs visit!

It was such fun having Grandpapa and Gg for Christmas! They arrived at 1pm and we waited for them to start Christmas. Which wasnt hard since we stayed up all night playing and slept till noon. The kids were thrilled when they walked in the door!! The greatest Christmas present of all! Avery read the Christmas story from the Bible, then we opened gifts. Grandpapa and Gg got us a Wii-which is just a total blast for the whole family! We were all compleatly spoiled with gifts!Then our dear friends(family really!)Derrick and Erin and there children joined us for a Christmas feast. It was cold and snowy outside! It was a perfect Christmas! Time always flys when your having fun! So there visit flew by! It did warm up for us to go play in the snow- we went sledding at our favorite park. And Hunter Kent managed to sled into the icy cold river. Grandpapa pulled him out quickly! I had no idea he would go in so I was snapping pictures as he was sliding down the hill, then right before my eyes-he dissapeared over the ledge into the water.I came running down that hill like a screaming maniac of course! Thankfully God is always taking care of my children-He has put His mighty angels around them to protect them in all that they do! After we got Hunter warm and changed he was ready to sled again!
It was hard saying goodbye to our Grandpapa and GG!!Hopefully theyll come again soon!

Countdown to Christmas!

Only 2 days till Christmas!(Cringe!I dont like the Christmas countdown-especially at the very end. Because what that means to me, is in 3 days it will all be over!) It would be so nice if Christmas lasted a whole week instead of just one day!! And let me tell you this, baby it's absolutely freezing outside! Its been -20 degrees all week! Although its so beautiful to watch those giant snowflakes pour out of the sky, its just too cold to go out and play in it! So it's been days of being inside-drinking hot cocoa,homeschooling and Christmas projects, visits with my dear friend Erin, playing, fighting, and plenty of Christmas movies(love the hallmark channel!) And speaking of Christmas movies my darling Hunter Kent, 4 years old, just had to stick his tongue onto our frozen front door-well it stuck and he ripped it off-and let me just tell you that little tongue can really bleed like crazy.He ripped the top layer right off!My poor little guy! Hopefully he wont ever do that again!
Im so excited my Dad and Mom are coming for Christmas!(the secret I wasnt sapposed to find out!)But Heath cracked under pressure!lol! So Im cleaning and getting everything ready! I hope your enjoying the most wonderful time of the year! Im so greatful beyond words for that precious Babe born over 2 thousand years ago! Happy Birthday my Jesus! May the birth of our Lord and Savior be at the center of everything you do this Christmas! I hope you have the most amazing Christmas ever!
Love and Blessings! Jolena

My little ballerina

Peyton had her ballet Christmas performance at a nursing home last night. She asked me what a nursing home was...so I told her it was a home full of grandpas and grandmas who needed special care, who were probably lonely and could really use a smile at Christmas! Then she was really excited to go and dance for them. She got to wear makeup which made her whole day! She forgot lots of parts of her dance but she remembered all the words to the song!(Holly Jolly Christmas) and of course she was the most adorable girl up there !!lol! Avery, Hunter and I were so proud of her!

We had such a wonderful visit with Emaw and Papa! It just never seems long enough. We didnt do much, but sometimes its fun to just be lazy together. We did sneak in a few quick hunting trips though not as eventful as in times past. We celebrated Thanksgiving,with much to be thankful for!! Jesus, our family, friends, our troops!! We even managed to go shopping at 3am on black Friday! I dont think I bought that much because I was sleepwalking! But i did go and I had great company, Mom and my sweet friend Joanna. As always it was very sad to say goodbye, the hardest part of being in the military!

Pictures of my blocks, for those who are joining me for the block workshop at my home on December 11th and 12th. Call me for directions and questions:406-952-4716.
Hope you can join me for a fun time creating your own personal beautiful gifts just in time for Christmas!

Its been so long-time to catch up a little. I'll try to give the short version. Well my little sis has been really sick. And after many tearful calls with her begging me to come I had to get there, my hubby got emergency leave by the grace of God! We hopped in the van with our 3 little darlings and drove to Texas from Montana. 30 hours to get there. It was good to get home and be there to take care of my sis and my adorable little neice Lakyn. I got to spend a little time with my parents (squeezed in The Unit marathon and some blue bell icecream with my dad and mom)
and grandparents and texas family. It was hard saying good bye when it was time to get back to Montana. My sister is continuing to get better every day, I am on my knees for her, believing God for her complete recovery!! Then we rushed back to Montana, dodging a multitude of deer-praise the Lord!, with my mother and father in law close behind. We got home on monday and they arrived on tueday. There was absolutely no way I could unpack and clean it all up before they arrived! So they got to see the GIANT mess!! Oh well! The saddest part of this is that Heath had to leave this morning at 5 am for 5 days. But atleast I have a home filled with precious family!!God is so good to me!

We took the kids to the park to play and roll around in the leaves. I laughed out loud as I watched and photographed Heath, Avery, Peyton and Hunter running and diving into their big pile of leaves. I love these moments!

My Heath is home and I'm so thankful to have him here with us for 5 days- they will not go slow enough! Peyton has had her other front tooth about to fall out for days now (it was just hanging by a thread) So this morning while getting ready for church, Daddy talked her into tying a string around it, so SHE could tug the string and pull it out, WELL she wouldn't-so Daddy grabbed the string right before my very eyes and jerked that tooth right out!!I don't know who was more traumatized as blood gushed and tears flew-me or Peyton! He tried to make nice with hugs and kisses and when that wasn't cutting it- he gave Peyton her very own cup of coffee. (Lord bless those ladies who teach her Sunday school class!!!)Today we honored the sabbath and had a fabulous day of rest! I'm so glad God thought of that!

Peyton Blaise
a picture of Peytons paintings
last picture See why I was upset!


For the last few days we've all had the sniffles, coughs, and soar throats and no Daddy to take care of us! Yuck! But we are on the way to feeling better! This morning I awoke to my son screaming and I flew out of bed and ran to the living room to find my daughter crawling on top of the entertainment center!! Lets just say she got in big trouble and I pray she will never do such a thing again!! I thank my God for keeping watch over my children always! Peyton Blaise is the sweetest, most loving, little girl, but she is my challenger!! Sometimes I think she must think to herself," I know I'm going to get a spankin for this but oh well it will be worth it!" She is too much like her Dad at times!! lol!
We cheered Avery on at his soccer game-I was proud-he did his best! Afterwards we went to the store to get an Icee and on the way into the store we passed a young couple smoking cigarettes, my 4 year old Hunter following close behind said really loudly to them "Hey you guys, you need to quit smoking, its ruining your lungs!" I turned and said "sorry, 4 year old's tell the truth", they laughed and told him "your right, its a very bad habit', and as I was trying to get him into the store quickly he shouted out "then quit doing it!" Oh the things our children will say-you gotta love it!!
I loved Sarah Palin tonight! I thought she did really well in the debate. Im praying God gives her lots of wisdom and grace in the days ahead!

Just to make sure Id miss him!

I awoke to "Mommy I'm hungry!" A normal part of waking up for me. I made myself get up out of my cozy bed and a little hand dragged my sleepy body down the stairs and into the kitchen. And to my surprise there were beautiful roses with a love letter sitting on the counter and the dishes were all done! What a wonderful sweet man God has blessed me with!