Find some really cute tutus at thenaulutribe.blogspot.com.

No, we haven't disappeared into the desert of AZ...

...I am just not very good at keeping up with blogging.

The past twenty-three years of my life have been constant change. I first moved at 5 days old, and Jonathan and I are now preparing for our 4th move in our short three years of marriage. I couldn't tell you how many times I moved in between. Beyond just moving, life is busier everyday. I love the following quote because I am one of those people that keeps believing that someday things will slow down, life won't be as busy, though it never does.

"Time never stands still; it must steadily march on, and with the marching come the changes.
This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now." President Thomas S. Monson-General Conference October 2008

I am trying to find joy in the journey though I feel like I never get everything done, including keeping up with blogging.

So here is the latest news on the Raders...

We just made an offer on a house in Queen Creek, Arizona. Here is a picture, though it isn't a very good one. We should hear back about it sometime this week. We have been blessed to come to one of the only areas where we could buy a home right now. We'll see how it goes. We hope to be moved before Christmas.

We absolutely love Arizona; don't get me wrong. But being from the Appalachian mountains, I generally use the changing of temperatures and leaves to distinguish the change of the seasons. Yes, it is still pretty warm here, but who can say that they can wear shorts the week of Halloween and feel comfortable. It has been hard to get into fall festivities though. To try to improve the situation, we took the kids to a pumpkin patch on Friday night. It was fun, but my pictures aren't great. Jonathan and I were too busy trading off babies to have patience with good pictures.

And here are a few other cute pictures to catch up...

The summer continued...

(Thanks to all those who posted comments on my last and first post. It gives me encouragement to keep this up.) And I apologize in advance for all the pictures. I just have so many to choose from.

Well, the waiting continued. We thought we would know where Jonathan would be teaching seminary by May 20th at his New Personnel Orientation. No such luck. But at that point we were just happy to be hired.

So around the 5th of June we recieved the call and were told that we would be in the Phoenix Valley area in Mesa or Gilbert, Arizona. We were elated, though we were sad to leave Provo, my job, and all our friends there. I immediately thought of Brother Ringer, the HR rep, asking us in our interview if we could handle the heat of Arizona. Maybe he knew something we didn't.

We traveled down to Arizona to find a place to live. This happened to be Jonathan's first trip to Arizona. Because we didn't know where Jonathan would be teaching yet since there are many seminaries in this area, we decided to rent for a while. We decided on a townhome community in Mesa in a central location. He is now teaching at Red Mountain High School Seminary which is less than four miles away. We are planning on buying a house in Queen Creek, AZ, a smaller outlying town, in December. We decided that we are extremely blessed to be placed in this area. We really like Arizona even though it is so hot. While in Utah in June it snowed on the mountains. Then we came here to visit that same month it was 113 degrees. Thank goodness for AC.

Well, our last big hurrah in Provo was the 4th of July. Here are a few pictures.

Leighton was scared to death of the fireworks. He kept burying his head into our chests as we held him. But at the end he got really excited and clapped his hands. I love the 4th, the wearing of patriotic colors, the flag-waving, the parades, and especially the fireworks.

Right before we left we celebrated my sister's 18th birthday because we were moving away from her 10 days before. We made Blair a turtle cheesecake, a family favorite. Leighton was covered in caramel. Leighton misses his "Aunt Bear" very much. He often pretends that he is talking to her on the phone.

The kids are growing fast. Here are a few pictures of them. Savannah is rolling over and loves to "talk" to us. She definetely knows when she doesn't recognize someone. She happens to be one of the most relaxed children I have ever seen. She is happy and loving and especially loves her brother. Leighton now knows his colors, the concept of "2", and is talking in sentences. He is full of energy, and I find that my hands are as full as ever. And he is very sweet. He is learning to pray and he loves to have group hugs. We live somewhat near the Phoenix airport, and we always see planes going in and out. He can spot them so far away. He is pure boy. He loves planes, bulldozers, trucks, and buses.

I love this picture. Leighton is "reading" his little Book of Mormon to Savannah. She looks to be thinking hard about it.

Summer 2008

I happen to be one of the worst journal writers in history. Somehow I thought blogging would be different in some way. It hasn't been. I just get so caught up with covering everything that I don't even get anything done. And the perfectionist in me wants it all to look perfect. However, I am new at this. So, some wise friends of mine said that I must put something on my blog. So here goes...

Well, the procrastinator that I am has allowed me to go the whole summer without starting my blog. To our family and friends scattered across the country, hopefully you like this little view into our life.


This summer of 2008 has been crazy for our family. First of all Jonathan found out on Friday April 18th that he was hired as a seminary teacher. We were beyond excited, especially because that meant Jonathan could graduate from Brigham Young University the next Friday as planned. Leighton and I (and almost Savannah) were there to cheer him on. He graduated on Friday April 25th with a Bachelor's in philosophy. We were truly blessed that Jonathan could do what he has dreamed of doing.


Most likely due to the craziness of April check-outs as a hall advisor at BYU and the preparations for Women's Conference the next week, I went into labor one week early. I had worked all day on Thursday, May 1st. I started having some contractions around 7pm. They were not consistent for a while. I was rushing to finish my first summer schedule for my job as I was having contractions. Around midnight my contractions were about three minutes apart. The doctor had informed me that my labor would probably be twice as fast as my first. That gave me around 2 and 1/2 hours. So in fear of having my baby girl in a boy's dorm, we rushed to the hospital. Aunt Bridget (my amazing sister) and Uncle Kip (her husband) were able to rush over and stay with Leighton while Jonathan and I went to the hospital. After arriving at Orem Community Hospital, we settled in. My labor took much longer than expected. I thought they would break my water since I was fully dilated for a few hours. My water didn't break till around 5am. I later found out after our doctor arrived that they were trying to delay because they couldn't reach my doctor. His cell phone was malfunctioning and it was going straight to his voice mail. Oh well...everything went smoothly and our sweet baby girl was born at 5:21am on May 2, 2008. Savannah Jadyn Rader is the first girl in Jonathan's family in over 50 years. She was the exact same weight as Leighton, weighing in at 7lbs. 10oz. She is mild and sweet and happy to be alive. She is easy-going and adaptable which was so helpful during this crazy time in our lives. She loves her brother even though she sometimes takes a beating as he tries to love on her. Leighton is a good big brother.


























Aunt Blair (my other sister) took care of Leighton while we were at the hospital. She bought him this blue balloon that day. Jonathan came home to get him up in the morning and to put him down at night. In many ways he was still a baby at barely 15 months old. He didn't quite understand what was going on. We went home from the hospital the next day. We had two restless nights but since then Savannah has been a wonderful sleeper. She slept 7 hours straight her third night home. Sadly, Bridget and Kip had to leave for an internship in San Antonio the next week. Then Grammi and Grandpa Rader came to visit. It was so fun to have them around.

To be continued tomorrow....