Wow- It's been a long time!

There is no possibel way to catch up on the last few months so I will give a highlight of the last month. School started and I now have an empty home during the day. Dustin and I were counting down the summer days until school started. We were more excited for the kids to go to school than they were! We have enjoyed getting the house clean each week- at least I know it will stay clean for a few hours. We have gone grocery shopping without the kids. Can I just say how nice it is to walk into a store and not have to yell and be afraid someone will call CPS on me because I am disciplining my children in public- nothing major, but it is nice to not have the store fights. I have been able to do doctor and chiropractor appointments without worrying about a babysitter. The best part- Dustin and I have been able to attend the same temple session together! It has been so long. We usually trade off so we wouldn't have to get a sitter- no more. That has been super nice. We have date days now. It is very nice reading scriptures in the morning without the kids to distract me. Life is good. I am still keeping plenty busy. I am helping out in the kids' classrooms one day a week, teaching piano lessons, and keeping the kids caught up on their piano lessons and homework is hard work. Plus, I am trying to read one large book to each of the kids each night, plus they read to me. Life is crazy, but fun.

My little "Jodi Girl" started Kindergarten this year. She was more than ready to go. I tried holding her hand as we walked to the play ground and she totally put me in my place: "No, Mom. I'm a big girl." "May I please hold your hand? You're my last child starting school." (BIG SIGH from Jodi) "Fine." Well that just made me feel oh so sad. She is way cute. She is so tiny compared to many of the kids. She finally broke the 35lb mark!! Yeah! She loves Mrs. Pena. Daniel had her last year and Jodi just expected that was who she would have. She has so much fun.

Daniel moved up to first grade. He loves Mrs. Neuman. He has a big heart and it gets hurt often, but he did tell me that he has lots of girlfriends and that they all want to be near him. He says some of the funniest things. He know who Justin Beber is and the Jonas Brothers. He likes their music. Daniel also started piano lessons this year and is having fun- I think. He has gotten quite attached to the Wii. He reminds me so much of my brothers! I finally have some leverage with the boy! He never really loved one thing and so discipling was hard because I couldn't take anything away from him that he really cared about, until the Wii came along. He can play for hours- if we let him. He is funny. he said I was one hot mama the other day. Where does he get it? Like father like son!

Noah is now in 3rd grade and finding school challenging. Mrs. Hall is a very good teacher. She really pushes her students hard. Noah loves reading and hearing stories and writing stories. He may be an author someday! He loves fantasy books- he reminds me of my older brother! We read the 4th Harry Potter together over the summer. He had a Harry Potter movie marathon and watched all 4 movies in a row. He loved it. I won't let him read or watch the last few books for anothe year or more. It gets a bit complicated and a bit more mature for his understanding. We have found other books though to wet his fantasy appetite. We are reading the 4th Book in the Fablehaven series together. He loves Brandon Mull's books. Noah is also really excited for "Reading Under the Stars." Bruce Coville is coming for the event. He rights books about dragon slayers and Noah is in heaven. He is super excited. He is also doing great in piano and at Cub Scouts. He is working hard to earn his wolf badge- he is almost there!

Dustin is doing well working as a nurse at Scotssdale Healthcare Hospital. He is in his 6th year as an employee and his 2 year as a nurse. He is also now ACLS certified and will be certified for med/surge work in Februrary. It means another pay raise. And it gets him one step closer to ER work- if that is what he wants still- who knows with him. He is always changing his mind! He provides well for our little family. We love our home and neighborhood. Great blessings have come to us!

I will try to post more often this year with my children's antics and successes, and maybe even their failures= hopefully they won't have any! But, that is life when it does!

Merry Christmas

We are waiting to take our family picture, but here is the letter for now!

Dear Family and Friends,
The year 2010 has been a wonderfully blessed year for the Frier family. We are in complete awe of the bounty and the blessings Heavenly Father has bestowed upon our family. We are so grateful! Here are some of the big highlights for our family:
Dustin passed the boards for his RN in February and was immediately promoted from nurse assistant to RN at Scottsdale Healthcare. He has been with them for 5 years and he was blessed to have a boss that liked him enough to create a position for him! He is doing well in his new role. It isn't always easy, but he is learning new things every day. He plans to return to school in August to begin work on the Bachelors degree in nursing. More school- but it won't be full time again- for which Laura is most grateful!
With a good paying job, Laura's nightmares of apartment living were at an end! Hip, Hip Hooray! We moved into our very own home, in a very quiet neighborhood in May. That first night in our new home was a miracle we thought would never happen. The night was blissfully peaceful- no noisy neighbors stomping over our heads all through the night! We love our home!
With the home came the fulfillment of a promise made to the kids that they could get a puppy. Enter one chi-doxie mix: Flash. He is a Momma's puppy through and through. He is Laura's shadow and protector- all be it 1 foot tall at that!
We had a wonderful Albaugh family reunion in Colorado camping this summer. All we did was FREEZE! We are now a true AZ family now that we have been here 10 years! We had a great time seeing Laura's siblings and their spouses and children. We made some great memories: Picture Noah and Daniel with a hatchet in hand chopping at anything that even looked like wood.
Daniel (6) started Kindergarten this year and is learning at leaps and bounds. He is one of his class's top readers and writers. He is now reading anything he can, no more talking in "code" around him as he is putting the sounds of letters together quicker than we speak them! He is having so much fun. Daniel loves anything Zhu Zhu and has collected quite a few.
Noah (7) is a great kid in 2nd grade, also among the top in his class. Where do they get it from? He loves Star Wars and playing with his twin 2 houses down. Noah was finally blessed with a best friend in the neighborhood that is also in his class at school! Zane and Noah are quite the pair. Noah loved our move! He has also kept up with the piano and is playing so well. Noah is looking forward to his baptism in February. Hopefully his aunts and uncles will be able to attend!
Jodi (4) lost the companionship of Daniel in August when he went to school. Jodi became princess of the house and rules the home like a diva. She LOVES Barbies and is forever asking mommy to play with her. Jodi did gain her first "boyfriend" in Brad, the younger brother of Noah's best friend. They are gaga for one another. Laura is a little worried. If she is already catching the hearts of boys at 4, what will she be like at 16?!!! She is such a sweet, independent, tom-boy, girly girl. She is a true blessing for her family. Jodi will start kindergarten in August- not soon enough for her!

Laura has had a change in focus this year. While the fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue still plague her daily life, she pushes through and does what she can. She has been playing the piano so much more than the flute- it's not quite as painful resting fingers on a keyboard as holding the flute up and using all the breathing muscles. She is loving the new-found joy in the piano. Laura is again leading the church choir as well as leading the music for the children in church on Sundays. She also volunteers once a week in the boys' classrooms. She loves seeing them learn and loves being a help to the teachers. It brings great joy to her. Laura has also become quite addicted to books. Rarely does she leave the house without a book tucked under her arm. Check out her growing list of good books on Good reads.com
The Frier family has been so blessed this year. We know that these good things have been given to us from a loving Heavenly Father who heard our prayers and our pleas for so long. We had faith that all would work out so long ago when we gave up a home so Dustin could go to school. We had many trials over the last 4 years and we are so grateful for the love Heavenly Father has given to us. May each of you know that our Savior came to earth to suffer and to know how to help each of us and that He will help us if we but turn to him. May His love be with you this Christmas season and in the year to come is our prayer to our dear family and friends,
Love,
Dustin, Laura, Noah, Daniel, and Jodi Frier

We love hearing from our friends!
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Daniel's Birthday and Halloween

So much has been happening around here lately. I feel like I keep getting farther and farther behind in writing about th elives of our munchkins. School is going great. The boys are both excelling in their school work. Daniel is spelling everything and reading anything he sees. He is now spelling his answers to us. I am not "Mom" anymore, but "M-O-M." Daniel is loving school and friends. Noah was selected Student of the Month in his class for October. Who wouldn't want him in a class?

We spent our fall break hanging out at home, playing with the kids on our block, having Daniel's birthday party with his friends, and going to the Zoo and seeing the Koala bears. We actually saw them when they were awake and eating! Daniel had a great time at his party. He is now 6 years old. His favorite part was getting to decorate the cupcakes at the party. His friends all had fun with that too!

We also went camping with our ward. We celebrated Daniel's actual birthday camping- which was lots of fun too!

Then we went to the Zoo on Friday before Halloween. It wasn't nearly as fun as we thought it would be, but we still had fun spending time together. Trick or Treating was really fun and tiring= especially for Jodi. We had church from 2-5, came home ate really fast and went out. Jodi slept in Monday morning. We were both ready for a nap yesterday.

Life is just going to keep getting busier and busier in the next few weeks with the holidays. I am gearing up for cooler weather (it should come soon!!) and all the fun and activities to get ready for.

One of 3 the 3 Greatest Blessings in My Life

This scrapbook design made with Smilebox

Off to a GOOD Start

Well, all of my worries about Daniel doing well at school were unnecessary. Daniel was the first student selected for his class as Student of the Month. He will be given an award on Monday. He LOVES Mrs. Pena and she is obviously keeping great control in the classroom. Daniel was selected because of his leadership skills and he treats everyone the way he wants to be treated. Now my only question is this: Is this the same child that lives here? It's like night and day for him. At least he is good in public and for others- because I feel like he NEVER hears a word I say! I am so pleased with Daniel and that school is a wonderful place for him to be. We love Brinton Elementary school and are so happy with the great environment that it is for my kids.

Noah was selected as the STAR student in his class. It's a week long celebration of him. We made a cool poster for the bulletin board all about him. He got to do Show and Tell, he gets the privilege of no homework this week- he was so happy about that. I get to come in and read his favorite book to his class. I am really excited to do that. All the student write letters to Noah and then they are made into a book for Noah to keep. It's a fun week for Noah. Noah also got his first 100% on his spelling test this week. He was very pleased.

The kids love school. Noah hates that he never has enough time to play with his toys anymore. It took him 2 weeks to finally get to watch the movie he had been wanting to see. We have just been so busy after school with homework, piano practice, playing with friends outside, and reading at night.

Jodi has been having fun keeping herself entertained in the mornings. She loves Angelina Ballerina. Thank heavens for DVR. We have about 8 episodes from PBS recorded for her. SHe puts on her leotard, ballet shoes, and "tighties"

Pictures of the kids will follow in a few days once I get some Smilebox things completed!

School Starts!

Oh Boy were we ready for school!! I am SOOO glad I put the kids in Brinton Elementary School. It is a Mesa Public school on Meridian/ Southern- right on the border to Apache Junction. I heard so many bad things about the school my children would have been assigned in Apache Junction. We are thrilled with everything so far at Brinton. The facilities are wonderful.






Daniel started Kindergarten this year. He was so ready to go, and sad to say, so was I!! Life in our home has been so much less stressful with him in school. His teacher has been teaching for 12 years, mostly in downtown Mesa, so I am sure that whatever Daniel throws at her she can manage. Daniel's best phrase about the first day of school was that he had, "Infinity Fun!" I wonder if that phrase will catch on? He was ALL smiles when he came home. He was so excited to return the next day. He said someone had to go to the time out chair the first day. I was REJOICING that it was not Daniel in that chair. He did have to go there on Friday for not listening, but he is learning!! His teacher called on Friday just to see if we had any concerns with him. She said he was just a normal kid and is doing fine. I am totally THRILLED with fine. Daniel is having fun- that is all that matters. I want school to be fun for him. He was so sad Saturday that he didn't have school! I am glad he looks forward to going back. He does really good work. He definitely was ready to be a Kindergartener.










I messed up lunches on their first day of school! Daniel will ONLY eat PB&J and Noah will ONLY eat ham. (I feel like I run a very shabby restaurant!) I mixed up their sandwhiches. An aide went to Noah's classroom once they realized why Daniel wasn't eating. While they were switching sandwhiches Daniel told the boy next to him, "My mom is a Cuuu-ckooo." He is SO very expressive!


Noah is in 2nd grade. He had a good first week as well. The best part for him is that Zane, the neighbor boy he befriended over the summer, is in his class. They are now inseperable! It is so fun. Wherever Zane and Noah are- there are Daniel, Jodi, and Zane's brother Brad. They all get along great- like NO fighting!! Noah is trying hard to meet new kids and has extended a hand of friendship to a 1st grader with a feeding tube. He is so sweet. Noah was not as excited as Daniel to go back to school the 2nd day. Noah knows school means work! He just wants to play!

Jodi and I had lots of fun filling in time without the boys. The first day was rather lonely without them. But, we made a puppet for the "Woman Who Swallowed the Fly" and we stamped and colored. The 2nd day I took a nice long nap and Jodi watched movies. Dustin and Jodi cleaned the house and we all had lunch and went shopping at Costco. I am so going to love this school year!

Summer Fun

School starts in only a week. I thought I would do a run down of all the fun we enjoyed this summer. Most of it occurred in a week time span with our big camping reunion trip in Colorado.

The Pool: The public pool was a hot spot. Pool trips almost everyday. Noah and Daniel remembered how to swim. It took them a little time, but they were off swimming on their own soon enough. The public pool has a little lazy river with a current that takes you around and around. It was really fun. The pool also has a couple of the big twisty water slides. By the end of the summer both boys were going down both the uncovered and covered slides. Noah was getting good enough to go off the diving board. He was such a little stick on the board; his jump barely made the board move. It was a riot to watch.

Reading: The kids completed the summer reading program within a couple of weeks. Among the best books we read were, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (to Daniel); H.P. and the Prisoner of Azkaban (to Noah), The Candy Shop War (to Noah). We checked out tons of books from the library and had fun going there often and reading in the huge castle.

4th of July: We had a blast participating in 2 nights of celebrating the country's birth in Mesa. We ate lots of watermelon, went down the big blow-up slides, played at little carnival booths, ate scrumptious caramel apples, heard and saw Governor Brewer speak, watched lots of fireworks. It was loads of fun!

The Trip: We took off for Colorado in July. We spent a couple days driving up to the mountains. Colorado could not have been more beautiful. It was like a fairy world. Everything was so green and smelled so good. The temperature was awesome during the day. We froze at night while we camped. Temperatures droppped into the upper 30's. From AZ, we felt like we were getting frostbit on our toes!! The camping trip was so fun. The planning and food shopping was a little stressful, but it was worth the stress. I loved seeing my brother, Derrick and his wife Jenn. We don't hear from them very often- he is the complete opposite of me. I can talk about anything and share my life with anyone- I am definitely an open book. derrick is not. Trying to get details about his life is like reading a locked book. So, I was super happy to be able to at least the man and his wife. I miss them so much. It was also awesome seeing my little sister Juliann and her husband Ross from Texas. It has been way too long without her. We were very close to each other, especially the last couple of years before I left for college. It was fun giggling and talking with Julio. I loved seeing my older sister, Elisa and her husband Tom from Colorado. My kids had fun playing with their kids. I hope Gavin and Rianne had has much fun with their cousins as Noah, Daniel, and Jodi did. They wandered all over the campground. It was fun seeing them all play together. Dustin let Daniel and Noah loose with a hatchet. It was hilarious watching the grandparents and aunts and uncles wince as my kids came chopping along. I am happy to report that not one child lost a finger or even got cut. Phew!!! We had a blast with Lief and his girlfriend Amy. Jodi has a new gal pal. She was practically attached to Amy's side, tent, space. Wherever Amy was, Jodi was close behind. It was great seeing my parents as well. They spoiled the grandkids of course. My kids love Grandma and Grandpa so much. They always leave the grandparents with a new best animal or toy. These toys become sacred to them, just because they were from Grandma and Grandpa.

Customize a collage

The Birthday Girl: We celebrated Jodi's birthday while in Colorado. Many of her aunts and uncles were there to celebrate with her. She was one spoiled 4 year old. She got pretty much everything she wanted. A Barbie Guitar- the best gift ever (for her!), a Lego set (no more fighting over Noah's), a new babydoll, and best of all a mail box- no wait it was a dressup set. But Jodi's first comment was, "Oh wow a mailbox!" It was truly priceless. A day playing dress up with her aunts was the best gift ever. We also went to the lake near my home town and the kids road in their first ever boat ride. My mom has a little fishing boat that she used to take out when she was a girl. It still works and it was loads of fun taking the kids out on the lake. They saw a deer on the shore. The splash in their faces was so fun. The water was FREEZING, but it didn't matter.

The Utah Field House and Dinosaur Museum and Arches National Park: When we vacation, we go all out. We went to Vernal, UT and had a great time at the awesome Dinosaur museum with a little less family. Each destination one of my siblings had to leave for their homes. We had a great time seeing the skeletons of Dilopicus. Man that Dinosaur was long. Anything about dinosaurs is the most awesome thing in the world for my kids. They were in heaven.

On our way back to AZ, we spent time at Arches National Park. We had to drive through Moab any way and thought the kids were old enough to take the tour. We had tons of fun hiking around and up to the different arches. Our favorite was Double arch. It was really awesome. It was a very hot day, but so beautiful. The deep blue sky with the red arches was very picturesque. We got tons of photos and even a poster because we loved it so much. We hiked through a very powdery sand. It was so pretty.

Flash: I promised the kids a dog when we moved, then when we got back from our trip. It was time to pay up. We now have a little puppy peeing and pooping on my carpets, yipping at night, and being super soft and cuddly. He is a chihuahua and dachsund mix. He looks more like the doxie than anything. He has a doxie body on chihuahua legs!! He is super fun and the kids love him to death.

Summer turned out to be tons of fun. We love our home. We love our family. So now we begin a new school year. Daniel starts all day Kindergarten, Noah will be in 2nd grade. They have all their school supplies and are looking forward to meet the teacher night on the 9th and then school begins on the 11th. Jodi and I will be so lonely without the boys.