Walking Everywhere

The twins and I have gotten used to walking everywhere with only one car. (My mom's car sold and we thought we would live as long as we could with just 1).

We walked to Lisa's one day while it was snowing and the kids did great.

Another day we walked to the rec center to go swimming and got caught in a rain storm.

There was one day during Spring Break where we walked to Beehive Bakery and Claire held my hand and talked the whole time. I loved it!

Another time while just the twins and I were walking to Beehive Bre said "Mom, can you believe we wanted to come to earth and leave heaven?", "What do you think heaven looks like?". She had more questions like that. It was so much fun!

Walking has been great....most of the time.

4th Grade Field Trip

I was able to go on a field trip with Bella today. I'm really glad it was this one.
They've been studying different types of architecture. We started at the governor's mansion and walked up and down south temple. We would stop at different houses and the teacher would have the kids what kind of building it was and then she would tell them something about it. After that we had a tour of the governor's mansion. Then we had lunch at the city and county building on the lawn and then a tour inside. We went to the top of the clock tower. Bella had a great time and I had a great time begin with her. It was so fun. But we were constantly on the go and this was the only picture I got as she was getting on the bus.

Grandpa Time

My dad watched the twins today so I could go to The Judge and take pictures for the social media stuff I do for them. He's been taking them every time I go, which is once a week.

I was just thinking about lucky the girls are to have him in their lives. He is such a great grandpa. He plays games with them, takes them to lunch and just loves them so much!

The best part is at the end of the day when I ask what their highs and low where for the day, the twins always say going with grandpa was their high.

When Claire was younger she would say grandpa was her best friend. And she still gets jealous that she can't go with him because of school and the twins get to.

What lucky girls! And I feel so blessed!

Date night with the twins

Bella was with Kenny and Claire and Elysia were having a sleepover with grandpa and grandma so that meant we got to take the twins one a date.

First we went to football practice at the "U". They lasted about 30 minutes and then we went to the car to play memory. They tried to pay attention. Saying they like the "judge", who turned out to be the ref.

After that we went to dinner and then the Utes baseball game. The girls were so good! Again they tried hard, but kept calling it basketball. 

Such cute girls!

Always Remember

Syd and Bre have been so excited for Leprechaun Day for weeks. Every day they ask when it is. 

Then tonight when I tucked them in for bed they were telling me about what they thought was going to happen. Syd was sure she could feel magic in the air and Bre was going top try hard to stay awake and make sure he didn't come in mom and dad's room and make a mess.

Cute Claire also had her mind spinning about everything. She really wanted to Leprechaun trap, but since she didn't have one she wanted to leave the door open so she could hear if one opened the fridge to dye the milk green,

Oh how I love these girls and their innocence.

It melts my heart. I love being a mom!

USPS Job

This was a fun industrial I did for USPS. It was a long day but a lot of fun. And while I was there I ran into the Atomic City guys. They were there because they are editing the finished project. I really hope I can work with them again soon.

Date with Bella

I haven't been on a date with just Bella in a long time. So this was way overdue. With the new 50/50 schedulde I feel like I never get to see her. I miss her so much! She makes me so happy!

She's started acting classes, so after the class we went to dinner. It was so fun to just be with her and talk. 

I love her so much!

Date with Claire Bear

Claire and I had a date night! It was so much fun. We went to Tony Burger's for dinner and then to Shrek at Center Point. She laughed so much! I love listening to this girl laugh. It makes me so happy.

Seeing Shrek was fun. I was there to take pics for the bakery. We got front row center, seats. It was great!

Vacation

We promised ourselves that after court we would go on a vacation just the two of us.

We left on Friday and got back on Sunday, so it wasn't long, but it was still nice. We stayed in Long Beach where it was close to 70 degrees. We slept in, read, went out to dinner, went on a whale watching cruise and just relaxed. It was so nice to spend time together!

Our hotel was great and had wonderful views! The beach and restaurants were nice as well.

now if we could just take the kids. I know they would love it. Especially if they could fly! One day.....maybe.

Court....Finally Over

The night before court Seth and I commented to each other that we couldn't believe how calm and relaxed we felt. WE had FHE and then took the kids to the rec center to swim. 

We know it was because we were being carried by so many people's prayers. 

The trail was pretty much like Rob said- anticlimactic. Which was good. Infact at times it was pretty boring. Rob did a great job of defending us and not letting Kenny off the hook. Jenna tried to twist my words and flat out lied a number of times. But Rob said I did a great job. He said he hadn't seen a room that full in a long time. We had so many people come to support us. Kelli even drove down from Boise. It was so thoughtful. Also Kenny's mom and Phil apologized to my parents for Kenny's actions. They said they tried to talk him into doing the right thing but he wouldn't listen. That was nice to hear.

Now we just wait. The judge will let us know of her decision on the 24th. 

I love knowing that now matter what she rules I told the truth and this is over. Of course it's still hard with the custody, but I know Kenny's true colors will show through and things will go back to normal.

This whole thing has strengthened my testimony and made my love for Seth and the girls even stronger.

 Me and Rob

 Our friends "heart attacked" our house 

One of the meals we received before the big day

E-mail after court

This was the e-mail we sent the day after court:

We just wanted to take a minute and say how truly thankful we are for all of our friends and family. We've felt so much love from all of you these past 2 1/2 years. You've all been through this with us. And we really appreciate it!

Yesterday was long and exhausting so I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your text or call. And today still feels like I've been hit by a car. I guess that's normal since this is what we've been working towards for 2 1/2 years.

Many people asked how it went yesterday. 

In a nutshell, I'd say it went really well. Rob gave me high praise (something he never does) about how I did answering questions. To be honest I don't remember a lot. I was nervous, but he said I sounded sure of myself and  genuine. Jenna (Kenny's attorney) came at me hard and tried over and over again to twist my words and trap me into saying the wrong answer. She tried to bring up things that aren't relevant (my work experience 10 years ago, for example). But, I was honest and the answers came easy because I didn't have to make anything up. Rob said that the way I came across was confident and when Jenna was questioning me it looked like she was attacking and bullying and that the judge would notice that.

It was hard to watch Kenny lie under oath. 

It was also hard to watch Jenna say things about custody (which she wasn't suppose to) and also make me out to be money hungry.

But I think the hardest part for me was that Seth wasn't in the room until the very end. Because he was a witness he had to wait in another room until they called him, which was towards the end of the day. 

But it was such a relief to look out and see my friends and family (and know that Seth was just outside) and also know that people at home we're praying for us and cared.

I was also very impressed with Tess. I was so scared she would seem scared and timid, which would make her seem unreliable (Rob said). But she blew me away. She sat back in the chair and answered the questions honestly and with confidence. She came across as a good reliable witness. 

Tonya was great and so was Seth. Jenna came hard at Seth as well, and he got a little tongue tied, only because she tried to get him to say the wrong things, but Rob swooped in and fixed everything.

I thought Rob's closing statement was perfect. He said "Your honor I guess my question is "why not"? Why shouldn't Mr Byron be held accountable? To himself, to his daughter and to the court".

(I'm paraphrasing but that was basically it)

So once again I was reminded that I was in great hands all along. We had some unfair things along the way; bad judges (who were fired), bad evaluators, and bad attorneys (who drug this out longer than it needed), but all of those things were out of his control. When it came down to it Rob was honest and never lead us astray. He gave us good advice, always came prepared and did a great job.

Now the hard part will be waiting. The judge will give her decision on Feb. 24th. We know ultimately she could go either way. We told the truth and honestly gave a better argument, but as this whole thing has taught me people still have free agency and the Lord can't and won't step in for everything in life. I believe this was a trial for us based on choices Kenny made. This is a good lesson that the choices we make effect more than just us. Kenny thinks this was just about money. But the night I had to hold Claire as she cried herself to sleep because she missed Bella so much, was a good reminder of the scoop of this. I'm sure he nor I even knew how many people would be effected by his choice to have an affair 10 years ago. So, if things go unfairly we'll know that we were honest and can feel good about everything. 

The night before court, Seth and I both commented to each other that we couldn't believe how calm we felt. We knew we should be nervous and scared but we couldn't have those feelings if we tried. 

We know without a doubt it was because of all of your prayers, fasts and kind words. 

Of course we still have the mess with 50/50 custody and only time will tell what will happen. But I'm positive the Lord has a plan for Bella. She has so many people who love and care about her.

So thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We love and appreciate all of you!

Love,

Seth & Amy

This Week

This week has been so rough. It started with Kenny harassing me through text. He just wouldn't give up. 

Then he threatened to file an "order to show cause" if he didn't get Bella right away on 50/50. So we had to start.

It has been awful on Bella and us.

I haven't been sleeping.

Then yesterday we met with Rob and he informed us that the judge has told him he's not allowed to bring up the statement where JEnna said Kenny would pay the child support form the day we started this process. We were just sick. That's about $900 a month for 30 months, and the judge is basically letting him off the hook. I have just cried and cried. That was the one thing we thought was a garentee. Rob says he will still say something in court. Either it will make the judge mad and we will have to apeal it later or she'll let him continue. 

Today (friday) Bella just cried and cried when Kenny came. She kept saying I don't want to go. It made Claire and Syd cry. Sweet Syd ran to her room to say a prayer. After Bella left I had everyone come in the living room and we said another prayer for Bella to feel comfort and be safe.

A few hours later when I had arranged for the primary president to pick Bella up for church Kenny told me to stay out of it and that they were going out of town.

I'm just so tired of it. PLus we found out that Seth has hit his highest point financially at work. He'll never make more. There's no way we can make it on that and pay these attorney fees since Kenny may not have to.

I just can't believe we contuine to lose over and over again. I'm tired of feeling defeated and depressed.

And I miss Bella so much it hurts.

Bella

Today while driving with all the kids Bella started talking about how babies can see angels and people from the other side of the veil. That got us talking and I told the girls the story about when Bella was only 3 weeks old. I just moved into Laura's and I was holding her and rocking in a chair. I said a prayer and was crying and a peace fell over me and just as quickly I heard her making noises I opened my eyes and she was looking at people and almost even moving her nexk like she was seeing them and speaking to them.

I told the girls that story and then Bella said "sometimes when I'm scared at Kenny's I say a prayer and I can feel the Holy Ghost and then I feel better.

I'm so glad all the kids heard it and am so thankful for what a good example she is on everyone else.

A great weekend

As we were saying family prayer tonight I thought I should probably write about what a great weekend we had. 

We had Bella so Friday we went to a Utah gymnastics meet with the Sorenson's. After that just our family went to The Training Table. Then on Saturday the kids did jobs and played with friends. That night we had movie night. Sunday after church we all played Frisbee and jump rope outside and talked with friends who were on walks. Then at night we watched Back to the Future and had brownies. 

This week school is out early all week. So it was fun to have the girls home early today. After FHE we finished Back to the Future and then played Chinese checkers. 

I'm scared for Bella to have to live with Kenny more. I don't trust him and I worry for her. 

Weekends like what we just had make me feel so good! I love my family and I'm so thankful for them!

Social Media

I don't think I've blogged about my social media jobs. 

I'm doing it for Beehive Bakery and The Judge Cafe. It's been such a blessing. Not only financially but also as a way to be creative and take my mind off of Kenny.

Here's a picture at The Judge. I went to take pictures and the girls played the Kindle, ate fries and cookies and had rootbeer. Not a bad day.

Picnic with the twins

Oh these two! So much fun! They begged for a picnic so we had one. I love having them home! It's so much fun to spend time with just them. They make me smile!

Claire's Birthday

Claire counted the days leading up to her birthday starting on New Year's. She was pretty excited. 

We started with presents and breakfast in bed (well, breakfast in bed didn't happen because of early church, but we had it for lunch).

Grandma and grandpa came over one night and brought presents.

Claire and Garrett had cake and ice cream.

She took Belle, Rowan, and Ryan ice skating for her birthday. Then they came back for pizza and cake and ice cream.

I'd say it was a pretty good birthday!

Dear Claire Bear

Dear Claire,
Happy Birthday! All day you've been reminding us that tomorrow is your birthday. Actually you've been counting the days for 11 days!
That's one of the things I love about you! Your excitement! You have such a positive attitude about life and everything makes you happy.
The last 7 years have been so much fun! You've taught us all so much! You're fun and happy but also caring and sensitive! As well as smart! You've caught onto reading and are doing so well. We also love how much you love to learn about the states. You impress everyone with your knowledge!
We all can't wait to see what this year brings!

We love you!

Love,

Mom & Dad

Zoo in January

We took a quick trip to the zoo with the Sorenson's. It was lots of fun. We'd never been in the winter. Less people and still fun in the cold. We got to see the rhinos being fed and talk to the workers. They gave us lots of fun information.

More Work

Work just keeps coming. This was for a shoot in Lehi for At Task. It was a lot of fun. I feel so blessed for all the work that keeps coming.