Home

Home. There are so many different ways to define home. Home is often where we have grown up. It is usually a place where we feel most comfortable. "Home is where the heart is." There are many places that we will still think of as home. We now have a new place that we call home, here in Sandusky, Ohio. We are now happily settled in this new place. We are already falling in love with the beautiful greenery, warm climate, and friendly people here. We love the thunder and lightning storms, that light up the evening sky. We love how well things grow here, and are excited to plant our first garden this next spring. We love the history that is out here in the East. We love our old home (most of the time). We love being right next to Lake Erie and being able to go to the beach whenever we want. We love watching the fireflies at night. We love the stars and the crickets at night. The boy's absolutely love it here, and have made some great friends already. We really do feel that this is our new home.

There have, however, been a few things that we have had to get used to, and some that we may never particularly enjoy. We have had a hard time adjusting to the high humidity here (especially me). We are still not used to the surprising rodents and insects that share our living space. Since living here, we have had 2 bats in our house, mice, cochroaches, lots and lots of spiders, ants in our house, bunnies living under our shed, a groundhog living in our crawl space, cecadas in our trees, rats in our yard, and poison ivy in our hedges. We're still figuring out how to deal with some of these. We have had a hard time being away from family, but have reaaly been able to start establishing our own family unit.

Oh Ohio, we look forward to the memories that we will build here with you!

The end is in sight!

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 2 months now since Miles took off on his journey to find a job. It has been so hard to be apart for so long, but the end is now in sight. Miles flies in tomorrow to be here for two weeks, and I am scheduled to be induced next Wednesday morning. I have bought tickets to get over to Ohio on March 31st. We're still not quite done with being apart, as we will be apart for 2 weeks before I move over to Ohio with the boys, but 2 weeks is easier to handle than 2 months. I love Miles so much, and I am so grateful to him for being so willing to sacrifice so much for our family! I can't wait till we are no longer apart.

Much to be Thankful for!

Starting around Thanksgiving time Miles and I felt like our world was falling apart. We had our lives mapped out, at least we thought we did. Miles had a full-time job lined up, we had a house, and we were excited to be living in Alaska. Well, when we found out that Miles no longer had a job (due to down sizing) all of that changed.

First off, we decided to come to Colorado to stay with my parents while Miles went out searching for a new job. We put our house on the market as a for sale by owner, and within one week we had a buyer. The sale went forth without complications, and we were able to come away with a little bit of a profit. We know that this was only possible through the blessings of Heavenly Father.

Miles set off on a "road trip" to search for a job. As we were planing out where Miles should go to start his search we felt very strongly that Miles should go to Ohio. We weren't sure why he should go there, or what would become of it, but nonetheless we knew that he should go there. So we set up an air-mattress in the back of the van, and he set out to Ohio. He spent many nights in a Wal*Mart parking lot, and showering at the YMCA (because apparently they allow the "homeless" to shower for free :). Well after a couple of weeks out in Ohio, and when he was preparing to come back to Colorado, he got an interview unexpectedly from a company that "wasn't hiring". They were very impressed with Miles resume and decided that he would be a great asset to their company. So, he got a job and started almost a week later. Again, another blessing from our loving Heavenly Father.

So during the week prior to starting his job, Miles took the time to look for a house for us. The housing market had been hit pretty hard with the economy out there. So right now it is a great buyers market. Miles found us a beautiful old home that is in incredible shape, and is actually an estate property, so it is being sold fully furnished. We are working on the paperwork to buy the house right now, and it looks like everything is going to work out really well. I'm so excited about this house. It has a lot of charm, and is really cute! Another huge blessing with this house, is that it is almost half the price of the house we bought in Alaska, and it comes with furniture, so we are all set up. It truly is amazing! I've actually never heard of someone buying a fully furnished home.

So I am now here in Colorado waiting for D-day. I have found a really good Dr. here and they are planing on inducing me about 2 weeks early so that this baby doesn't get as huge as Hyrum. I am very grateful for that, as I'm not sure I could have another baby almost 12 pounds. Miles is flying in the end of next week so that he can be here for the birth, then he will be here for about 2 weeks. My mom will then be flying over to Ohio with my and the 2 boys, about 3 weeks after we have the baby.

It truly is amazing how much the Lord has directed our lives. Things are different than we planned, but really they are working out better than we had planned. It will be a great adventure to move over to Ohio and start that chapter of our lives. I have a testimony that if we will put our trust fully and completely in the Lord, that He will direct our paths for the better, and in the process, we will become more of the person that He would want us to be.

Here are just a couple pictures of our time here in Colorado.

This Chirstmas we got the great opportunity to go to Mexico with all of Miles family. It was my first time ever having a tropical Christmas. I am so grateful to Miles parents for taking us here. We got to stay at a resort just north of Puerto Vallarta. It was so beautiful, and so warm.

Miles graduated from BYU right before we left. He graduated in Manufacturing Engineering Technology. I really am so proud of Miles, cause I know that it was not easy. His last semester he was taking 22 credits and was stretched to the max, but he did a great job! We had a "graduation ceremony" on the beach. It was pretty great!

Just enjoying one of the many beautiful sunsets on the beach!

Christmas morning was a fun time in Mexico! Hyrum was especially excited!

Hyrum loved the pools there, and as you can see, he did not lack any attention. :)

Karaoke night was lots of fun! Miles and I tried to sing a song, but it wasn't what we thought it was going to be, so pretty much we just had a good laugh.

The whole family enjoying the pools!

Hyrum spent a lot of time in the sand, and usually looked like this at the end of every day!

Hyrum absolutely Loved Horchotta!

Well, I know that I have said this before, but I acknowledge that I have been a horrible blogger, and am resolving to do better. To make up for lost time, I think it would be easier to have everyone read our Christmas blog at http://victorsfamily.blogspot.com/. Now I will try to start where we are now.

A lot of changes have happened for us in the past couple of months. First of all, Miles has officially graduated from BYU in Manufacturing Engineering Technology. I am so proud of him, and how well he did in school. The job that we had lined up in Alaska unfortunately fell through. As of today we have sold our house in Alaska, and are very grateful for being able to find a buyer so quickly, and were actually able to make a small profit. It turns out that all our hard work in renovations this summer, really paid off. So now life has found us living with my parents in Grand Junction, Colorado. I am so grateful to them for them and their willingness to help us out.

Miles has been spending the days out searching for a job. Right now he is currently in Ohio, starting to understand the life of a homeless person. Before Miles left we set up a nice bed in the back of our van, and stocked him with groceries. He has definitely had some great adventures already out there while living in his van. Although he may not be parked "down by a river" (Chris Farley) he is parked most nights in places such as walmart. He tried parking one night out by some big open fields, where he was very abruptly awakened by a police officer, who had a hard time believing his story. He had to explain a couple of times why he had an Alaska Driver's Liscense, Utah plates, his wife and son were in Colorado, and he was out there looking for a job. I think that we will laugh about this experience and journey for a long time to come. In the mean time, Miles is continuing to go forth in the search, and we are praying that something will work out soon.

So, that's just a little update on the life of the Victors Family. I will do better and include pictures from here on out.

That's right I'm Pregnant again! The due date is March 27th.

Okay so I've become one of the worst bloggers over the past year, but I've decided it's time to fix that. I will try to do better from here on out. Here are just a few pictures from this summer from some of the major events that happened to us.

Hyrum is now almost 14 months old. He is such a happy wonderful little boy. He is crawling, walking, saying quite a few words, and eating whatever we eat. He is such a joy to Miles and I.

This summer started out with us having no idea what kind of internship or job Miles would be able to get and then turned into a great opportunity. Miles got a great job (that also counted for his internship) as a field engineer at AK Supply. He works at their branch out in Palmer. We also came across an amazing deal on a house out in Palmer. We decided that we just couldn't pass it up. We then spent the rest of our summer doing some major renovations and getting things ready to move in. We love how it turned out, and now can't wait to actually move into it.

So I know that this is very short for how much I have to catch up on, but it's a start. More to come later.

Hyrum's 1st Birthday!

Miles, my hot construction worker. Putting in the laminate flooring.

Our new house!

Happy Hyrum helping work on the house.

Hyrum and I after a long day's work.

Family Photos

While Miles family was down here a couple of weeks ago, we were able to get family pictures with all the Victors. Miles and I were also able to get some pictures of our little family. I hope that you enjoy them. :)

Hyrum's Blessing

On Sunday September 14th we had little Hyrum blessed. Miles gave the blessing and we were able to have a lot of our family there. It was a fun day. Here are some pictures of him in his adorable tuxedo that my mom made for him.

Hyrum's first weeks home

As everyone know's the first couple weeks home from the hospital with your new baby can be a little bit nerve racking. I can't tell you how many times I would look at Hyrum while he was sleeping and wonder if he was alive. The first time he gaged, I almost had a heart attack thinking he was going to die. I don't think I really slept at all the first couple of nights, because I was so paranoyed that something was going to happen to him. Miles and I both worked ourselves up in worry quite a few times, just not knowing what was normal. We either called the pediatrician or went in about 3 times a week. But by some mirracle, he is still alive and all is well. We love this little boy so much. He has brought so much more depth to our own relationship as we figure out how to be new parents.

This is Hyrum in his coming home outfit (which barely fit him) on the changing table for the first time. We had to learn how to be fast and effective in the diaper changes as the window and our clothes have been drenched time and time again by our little man.

The first few days, all that Hyrum wanted to do was sleep, and sometimes this was about all we could get of him being awake.

So cute!

One of our first family pictures.

Hyrum really loves cuddling up on Daddy's chest. He has spent many hours in that position.

These are some pictures that Miles took just a few days after we brought him home.

Here was Hyrum's first bath. Needless to say he wasn't too thrilled.

Well the long awaited day has finally come. On Saturday August 9, 2008 at 12:05 pm little Hyrum Miles Victors joined our family.

So here is a shot of just how big I got right before I had "little Hyrum"

After 38 hours of labor with an hour and a half of that straight pushing, little Hyrum finally came. This is a picture of the doctor and nurse that were key in the delivery.

Hyrum was born weighing in at 11 lbs 10 oz. As you can see his head was a little cone shaped when he first came out. Even the doctors were amazed at how big he was.
I love this picture of Hyrum when he's getting all cleaned up. I think he was a little bit shocked to come into this world.
Our first family candid with proud daddy and mommy!
He's a very strong little man, and on his first day he lifted his head up and looked right at me.
Proud Daddy!

Proud Mommy!

One of our first days home from the hospital.

Miles and I could not be more proud of our beautiful little boy. Each day has been bringing us new surprises and new things to learn about our little bundle of Joy. We'll keep you posted as he grows.