Lagging

Yes, I know that I haven't posted Thanksgiving or Christmas!! I will get there! The pile of paperwork below is the reason that I am LAGGING!!!! This is what FOUR years of student loans looks like when it has just been placed in folders mixed with other school paperwork! My mission: sort through and fill out a super long loan repayment application ASAP! It is quite the task! Late nights filling out paperwork: $ ?.??, copies: $5.00, Postage: $4.80, Getting help paying off student loans: PRICELESS!!!! He,he---yes I know that I am corny. Will post as soon as this monster is tackled, signed and mailed off!

AU-BEE

My little girl is growing up much too fast!!! She is running around (and into things often), talking up a storm and finally getting some teeth at 18 months old!! We planned on calling here Brie, but now we call her Au-Bee or just B. She named herself Au-Bee, that is how she says her name, I am pretty sure it was her first word! Love my little girl, her blue eyes and her awesome red hair!!

Christmas morning, she thought the presents were okay, all she really wanted was the Chocolate!!!!
Au-Bee - 18 months old. Words: Aubee, Mama, Mommy, Dada, Daddy, Ry-yee (Riley), I do, I love you, Wee, It's Good!, More, Pwease (please), Aah, NO, mine, belby (belly), pee, yeah, wo..wo..wo (usually when she is falling-quite funny). I am sure that there are a few more, this is all that I can think of right now!

She wanted to be outside while Ry and Papa were playing in the snow! She was just too funny!!!

Pleasant Surprise

Okay, Monday afternoon (12/29/08) I was talking on the phone with my mom asking her how best to cook the prime rib that Ty brought home from work and she told me to walk to the window...strange. No, it did not click that they had just asked me my address 3 times (inputting it into the navigation system), or the fact that my dad just asked where mom's snow boots were...nope, all over my head. I walk to the window and there they are in the Suburban right in front of my house!!!!! BEST surprise ever!!!!! We had an AWESOME dinner (compliments of the Ultrasound Center Rep) and mom and dad helped us out a lot! We got blinds up, toilet seats changed and moved some stuff from the storage units! Dad and Ry played a lot in the snow and I don't think that I washed a dish the whole time!!! We were sad to see them go!

Me and my beautiful mama!!!
Papa and Ry all bundled up and ready for the snow fight!!!

Ry taking a hit!

Papa is a cheater! The snow was not packing well, so he grabbed the shovel. He buried Ry and then got Me and Mom! COLD - I was wearing flip flops!

Home

We have moved into our home!!! We are still waiting for probate to end on the home so we can close and start working!!! It is 2600 square feet and was built in 1955. It needs some TLC and we cannot wait to get started. I will post before and after pics once we complete projects. First on the list is the KITCHEN!!!! We are just very grateful to have our own space, have Tyson close to work and looking forward to serving in our ward and making new friends! Watch out Malad, here come the Cluffs!!

Yes, we moved in the SNOW! Not fun, would not suggest it to anyone! We only did it because we wanted to be here for Christmas!!!!! (We barely made it).

Halloween 2008

We had a pretty good Halloween. We were packing to move, so it was a little crazy. Aubry made the cutest Pebbles Flintstone EVER and Ry was quite the dashing Bat Man. Ry went to his primary Halloween party and we all went to "Trunk or Treat" at church. Aubry won a prize for best costume (my Ebay boutique costume paid off) and we got to hang out with our friends Chad and Jen. Good times, good times.

Tyson and Chad with Eva.
Pebbles and Bat Man

LIMBO

Hello there family and friends! Just a quick update. We had a wonderful Halloween - Aubry was the CUTEST Pebbles Flintstone ever and Riley made a great Batman! Pictures will come when I go and get them onto a CD and upload them (once we get a faster Internet connection here)!

We moved out of our town home on November 1 and we are staying with Tyson's mom while we wait for our HOUSE to close!!!! We found a good sized fixer-upper in Malad, nice neighborhood, big yard!! Tyson is excited to start working on it, I am excited to stake my claim on a room in the basement for an office/library/scrapbook area!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ty is waiting for his license (should be here any day) and will start work VERY soon! Life is a little crazy, the house is a little crowded, and we only have dial-up! But all-in-all we are very blessed and grateful!
JUST CANNOT WAIT TO BE OUT OF LIMBO AND GET SETTLED AT HOME!!!!! After 4 long years of school and moving, HOME is the best word in the world!

We love all of you guys and hope all is well for you!!!!

Tyson has a JOB!!!

Now that I have gotten caught up for the summer...on to the news for fall! (Sorry, I have a touch of OCD and need to blog chronologically). Tyson has interviewed with a few Orthopedic Surgeons (he loves the surgery), but we had been holding out...hoping and PRAYING (a lot) for a family practice job in Malad, Idaho. Let me explain. As a PA Tyson has to take the certification exam every 6 years, should he specialize (ortho) right away, he would have to really study for the exam every 6 years throughout his career. Spending his first few years in family practice will give him a very strong general medical foundation!!! Also, Malad is considered an under served, rural area and therefore qualifies for LOAN REPAYMENT. Finally, the cost of living is very low in Malad, Idaho and it is only 45 minutes away from where we live now.

With all of that said, Tyson was finally offered the job on Wednesday (10-15-2008). YAY!!!!!! We have been extremely blessed and are very thankful for this job opportunity! The pay is great, the loan repayment will start in a few months and we know where we are going to be for the next 5 or so years!!! Just wanted to share our good news with all of you and I will be emailing our new mailing address and all that information soon!!!!

Corn Picking with Grandpa Cluff

We were home to UT for maybe TWO days, when Tyson decides that we should go and visit his dad up in Blackfoot Idaho! Granted, we had told his dad that we wanted to pick corn with him, but we had just been gone for so looooooooooooooooooooooooooong! Luckily I had no laundry to do (thanks to mom - again) so we unpacked everything and re-packed for a two day trip and off to Blackfoot we went. It was a nice trip. Ty's dad has a big, cozy house and they like to cook for us (very nice)!! We went and picked the yummiest corn EVER! That was the fun part. We picked some 150 ears of corn and then came the work. The boys shucked the corn and then the ladies boiled the corn. Then Ty, Jerry (Ty's dad) and I cut the kernels to make a cream corn and then scraped the kernels (germ and all) off with the edge of a spoon and then bagged them for freezing! I appreciate my corn VERY much! Lots of work to have yummy summer corn into the winter (it is NOT gonna last too long)!

Tyson in the stalks
Riley had lots of fun trying to find the biggest ears!
Yummy, white corn!
I picked two ears, the rest of the time I was with Brie! Not stroller friendly!
Our yummy corn treasure!!!

Tyson Cluff, PA-C

Yep, Tyson is now officially: Tyson A. Cluff, PA-C!!!!!! He took the test on September 3, 2008. Usually it takes two to three weeks to find out whether you passed, luckily for Tyson he found out the next day. Actually, luckily for ALL of us...he came home from the testing center in Pasadena certain that he had failed! His friends who had taken the test ALL told him that they felt like they failed too! He was in quite a BAD mood! So Thursday morning he went online just to see and when he logged in to his NCCPA website, across the top it said that he had passed the exam and that he was now a PA-C!!!!! My mom was wu-wuing and then we called my dad and he said, pick a place to eat to CELEBRATE! Everyone except for Matt and Raechel were able to come. We missed them, but had a great dinner with the rest of the fam!! Nothing like PF Chang's to celebrate!!!!

Ricky, Jett, Missa and Ace
Cade, Drake and Riley - yes he is crying...over chopsticks!!! Kaliegh, Randy, Delaney and Cade again!
Ber, Jasper and Justin
Katie, Mom, Madelyn and Dad!

Happy Birthday - to ME!!!!

Okay, my birthday was August 29, and I am 29!!! My Golden Birthday. It was awesome! Since we were in California still, with a little prodding from my mother (who went with my dad for her birthday the next night) Tyson surprised me with tickets to see WICKED at the Pantages Theatre! IT WAS AWESOME!! I want to go again, again and AGAIN! The music, the costumes, the story...most of all it was FUNNY! Thank you Tyson for a wonderful "Golden Birthday". We went to dinner and then to the show. A night without the kiddos (thanks, mom)...what more could I ask for?!?!? Well, next year is the big 30, so...he'll have to top this one somehow!!! :)