2015 By Months

January- Kicked off the year with Justin being gone frequently for work. This earned him enough points for us to go and enjoy a one night stay at the ocean. It was one of the few family vacations we have ever taken other than to visit family, and it was simply delightful.

February- Found out we were having another little girl. The ultra sound technician told Justin to get a male dog and a cigar to smoke in the garage because that was the closest thing he was getting to a boy this year. Haha! We were so excited to be having another girl and for Natalie to have a sister!

Natalie and I also traveled to my hometown to wish my basketball coaches well wishes as they retired from coaching.

March- Natalie turned 2! It was hard to believe. We had a small birthday party with dear family friends and she got many gifts that fit her perfectly. Justin continued to travel a lot. Many trips up to Canada!

April- We enjoyed spending Easter with a best friend from College, Amy Petersen (now Fullmer). She flew up from Utah to check out the Pacific Northwest. We really enjoyed some good library books during this time and introduced Natalie to potty training! She still enjoys a good book while sitting in the bathroom. Natalie and I made an impromptu trip to Ontario because my grandma was having some serious health struggles. We stayed for a week and visited with her, tried to help out as much as we could, and played with cousins.

May- Natalie got her first hair cut! The Primary did a visit to the Temple Visitor Center as our activity for the year. Justin got home from traveling, just in time for us to visit Ontario for a Memorial Day celebration. My family always does a big picnic along with decorating graves. It was a sunny windy day, but the food was delicious and we spent a lot of time with family. We did a lot of dry pack canning while at my mom's that weekend as well. Sadly, Grandma Corn had not recovered well from earlier this year and was steadily declining in her health. Natalie spent alot of time playing with her cousins and enjoyed going in the swimming pool at Annie's house.

June- Holy smokes it was one hot month! Thank goodness I was only 8 months pregnant... hahaha. We tried to keep a normal routine, stay cool and wait for baby girl to make her debut. I was very tired this month and did not feel real well. Thankfully Justin was close to home most nights. My Grandma Corn passed away at the very end of the month. We were sad to see her go, but were glad that her suffering was eased. We will see her again someday.

July- The 6th was Grandma Corn's funeral which I watched via FaceTime. (Technology is amazing!) Then 3 days later Jenna Ruth was born on July 9th! She came into the world a dark haired feisty beautiful girl. That pretty much sums up the rest of the year, haha. No, she is a sweet girl, but it has been a challenge adjusting to two young children.

August- Adjusting to a new baby and we blessed Jenna Ruth. Justin's parents and grandparents made the long trek up here, along with my parents, and younger brother and sister came. It was a precious day and I was grateful for the family support.

September- Our Presidencies First Primary Program happened. It went well! At the end of it we traveled to Ontario while Justin traveled to Maine for 2 weeks. Little did we know this trip would cause us to be moving in a short time.

October- Halloween- Natalie was a darling Cinderella and Jenna made a cute pumpkin. We did a lot with our Ward Harvest Party. We also really enjoyed General Conference, and Justin had a busy month with returning from Maine and traveling to Canada back to back weeks.

November- Flew to Utah for Thanksgiving! It was a fun trip and great to see all of the family. We made the decision we would accept the job in Eastern Oregon and would be moving. We also watched with sadness the state of the Refugee Crisis in Europe. This especially made us focus on our many blessing and privileges living in the United States.

December- Flew by! We celebrated our 4th and last Christmas in the Pacific Northwest. Put our house up for sale and sold it a week later. Enjoyed spending time with the many dear friends we have made over the past 4 years. Justin and I celebrated 7 years of marriage and we counted our many, many blessings in life.

It was an intense year for us. Many lessons in tenacity, praying, answered prayers, patience, and trusting in the Lord with all our might. He has a beautiful story for our life that I feel is refining us each day and has helped our family be stronger. We said goodbye to 2015 by keeping 2 little children up far late than they should be, but we look forward to 2016 and the things we will learn and the joy we will get to experience. Happy New Year to All!


Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas season, and like always I am a little bummed it is over! Thankfully it comes once a year. We stayed in Sandy, not wanting to get stuck on winter roads with Jenna. Christmas Eve I spent cooking a feast for us and friends we had come over. It went well, but man it is alot of work to cook large meals. The turkey did not get done on time, which I was disappointed with, but will chalk it up to experience. It was my first time cooking that big of a bird! 

After dinner we rushed over to another friend's to quickly do a white elephant gift exchange. Then we hurried home to have dinner, clean up and put our girls to bed. We didn't make it bed until after midnight and we were exhausted! However, it was a very enjoyable evening and we parted with some pretty excellent White Elephant Gifts. Including a horse riding Santa statue!

Christmas morning we were slow moving, but managed to make delicious waffles and bacon. 

A friend from church came over for breakfast. We read the Christmas story, sang Angel's We Have Heard on High (Natalie's favorite Christmas Carol) and opened Gifts.

Then we spent the day in our pajamas watching movies and eating delicious food. That evening we pulled ourselves together enough to join the Thornton's at their grandparents for games and visiting. Our girls were tired and Jenna did not last long. It was fun while it lasted and they all loved having the little girls around.

We are so grateful to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior and King Jesus Christ. It is humbling and wonderful to think of and imagine His birth to Mary and Joseph. We worked on teaching Natalie about this this year. For the last 12 days leading up to Christmas we did a Nativity Advent Calendar from the Friend. She really enjoyed it and I feel like it was a good end to each day getting to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

We Are Moving!

Yep, it is true! I can't believe it and keep pinching myself (not really, because that would hurt) to see if it is true. The last four years here in the Portland Area have been great and have really stretched us as a family and individuals. We have learned to rely on the Lord more than ever before. We will always be grateful for our time here. However, it has brought it's challenges especially with Justin's work.

At the beginning of this we year felt like we needed to start looking for a change in work for Justin. He works long hours every week, most are spent out on the road, and the financial compensation wasn't keeping up with his efforts. After many months of prayer and contemplation, an opportunity came about through one of my sister's good friends. Her brother owns a company in Vale, Oregon and was looking for the "right" person to step in and fill a sale's position. This is a growing company and they are really looking to expand.

The business owner contacted Justin shortly after hearing the information from his sister. He told Justin to give him a call next time he was in the area and they would interview him. That time came at the beginning of October. He had taken me to my parents while he was in Maine for work for 2 weeks. The last hour before we were going to leave to go back to Portland, Curt called. Justin decided to go visit with him. The interview went well, but we didn't think much would come of it.

We were wrong! In the next two weeks they contacted him again and wanted to make him an offer. Another 2 weeks went by and we had an offer. We pondered on what this would bring for our family and whether or not we should move forward. We feel strongly that it is an answer to prayers and we need to take this opportunity and see what it brings.

We will be living in Nyssa Oregon in my Grandma's old house and renting from my parents for the first little while. Every step we have taken there has been reassurances that this is the right decision. We were able to sell our house within a week of putting it on the market, we have been able to find boxes quickly, and my brother has offered to bring a trailer to help us make the move.

We are so grateful for this opportunity. While we know life does not come without it's challenges, we look forward to a new situation and being closer to family and without neighbors on each wall. I am glad my girls will have more room to run around. It will be different living back where I grew up, but we are jumping in with both feet and praying it goes well!
Justin and Ruth Blazzard

5 months

 

This girl is almost 6 months old and I still haven't gotten her 5 month post done!

She is so much happier now that she can move and play with toys.

She surprised us by getting a tooth right before turning 5 months and about a week after that one came another one. This shocked me since Natalie was 9 months or so before she eve got one.

Jenna has started eating solid food here and there and loves it! 

I would have to say her favorite has probably been mashed potatoes.

She loves to watch Natalie and these two are bonding a little more. 

I love when they laugh and smile at each other.

Jenna has grown to like Justin a lot more now as well, but still loves her Mama the most.

At a doctors appointment in Utah she weighed about 18lbs. 6 oz.

She still fits in 6-9 month clothes, but wears some 9-12 month. 

They just fits better, especially with cloth diapers.

She rolls both from her back to tummy and tummy to back. 

I think her growth has finally slowed down a little.

She has the biggest best smile to go with her beautiful dark eyes.

Lately Justin has been remarking that she is like a fluffy marshmallow, 

you just want to squish her cuteness. 

Every day we love spending with our J bird.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Kicking Off Christmas

 Christmas Dresses! Natalie has a matching one and they are adorable in them.

I love that I got them on sale in the Spring!

Win win for Mom.

 We put our tree up last weekend. 

Since we will be moving in January and our house if for sale,

we kept things very simple with Christmas decorations.

A tree and our Nativity.

A little sad, but I kind of like the simplicity of it. 

Jenna has loved hanging out in this exersaucer. 

Santa at the Ward Christmas Party today!

Natalie has been very excited about Santa this year after reading Little Critter's 

Christmas book back in October. She was curious what it was like

to sit on his lap today. She walked right up to him though.

Jenna seemed to be chill about it.

She loved telling Him what she wanted.

Playing with other kids after the party while Mom and Dad help clean up.

It was one busy morning, thankfully our girls are great troopers.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Final Utah Pictures

 This is all Justin wanted for his birthday, to build something! 

He was finally able to over Thanksgiving.

A lady wanted him to build a truck for her grandson.

It turned out awesome!

Natalie had been asking to go to the temple for a while.

We promised we would take her in Utah. 

It was a delightful experience and she loved it.

We went before the crowds came with the lights and 

before getting on our flight home.

Touching the temple.

She really wanted to go inside.

There was a group of people sitting on the benches in front of the statue.

This didn't phase her at all. She walked right over in front of Him.

She stood there for a good minute or longer.

This stirred my soul. I am so grateful for my knowledge of the Gospel of 

Jesus Christ!

Before the plane ride.

How we felt when we got home from Utah.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

30

My best friend and wonderful husband turned 30 on November 2nd! 

Sadly, it was after a crazy Halloween Weekend and I didn't feel like we celebrated like we should have.

I did make him a cake, and a good breakfast and yummy dinner.

He took the day off of work and we spent time together as a family.

I am so grateful everyday for him. He has accomplished a lot in thirty years!

 He has helped create a beautiful family and provide for all our needs the last 7 years.

 His other baby He has helped grow for the last 4 year with work. 

The Grapple Processor. 

Happy Thirtieth my Love. Excited to see what these years bring.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard