Matt, Lori, Taylor, Brayden and Austin

Table for 6: Coming January 29th

Another Conran baby will make it's way here January 29th of 2014. I realize my picture is confusing... It's supposed to read Jan. of '14. Obviously I'm not having a baby in Jan of '13... duh! I should have just put my due date but I didn't. I'm 15 weeks and ready for the constant queasiness to be over... but grateful for it too!

{7.26} To St Louis we go

Back in March Matt mentioned that maybe he would start applying for new jobs. That wasn't our original plan. At least 3 years at BISSELL was what our intentions were. I said ok thinking the job search is a long process. A couple weeks later, after some great phone interviews and vague talks of fly-outs a recruiter from Nestle Purina contacted Matt asking if he was interested in a career change and if he'd apply for one of their positions. He did and 2 days later had a phone screen. The next week they flew him out and 2 days after that he had a great offer and 72 hours to decide yes or no!

It went so crazy fast we didn't have much time to wrap our heads around it. Our prayers had been that we would be led to a great opportunity for both Matt and our family. I know that we were. We accepted the offer and plans were made to start the 478 mile move.

St. Louis Gateway Arch

We moved from Rockford, MI on July 26th. Even being here in MO for 10 days now I'm not sure it's fully hit me yet that I've left that life back in Michigan. We're so grateful for the Lord's hand in our life and His constant care of our family. On Matt's last day at BISSELL there were 5 people laid off from the marketing department and his line of products were transferred to another division. Would Matt have gone with them? Would he have been laid off? We'll never know- but we do know that we're in a great spot here. (Although the perks aren't quite as usable for us... he's on the 'cat snack' line. A cat is NOT in our future!) I'm hoping the Nestle side of the company has some good things for me... bulk baking chips anyone?

Michigan Friends

After MBA school we prayed and prayed for a good job for Matt in a good location to raise our family. BISSELL, Grand Rapids and Rockford more than answered those prayers. We were blessed with great friends and an awesome ward. Taylor's school was awesome and I have no complaints about our time there. Some of our really good friends threw a going away party for us and it was so nice to see everyone and say good bye. We'll sure cherish the friendships and memories we made here.

Some of my besties took me and another friend out for our birthdays before we left. It was a great night of girl talk and burgers! Thanks ladies! I wish it didn't have to end.

A Golfer and his caddy

Brayden LOVES to play golf. It's really awesome to watch. He's a lefty which makes it even more fun! He'll go out daily and just swing this clubs around, sometimes without even a ball. A new game the boys have started is Taylor playing 'caddy' for him. We got Brayden a nice set of left handed golf clubs for his birthday so it has the carrying strap and everything. Taylor helps him set up his shot and tries to critique ever shot.

{7.13} Kids Rockford Tri

The boys got their first taste of racing this summer. Our town had a kids triathlon that the boys participated in. We worked hard training beforehand... kind of :) Taylor swam 50 yds, biked 2 miles and ran 1 mile.

He swam half freestyle and half backstroke. He came out of the water in 3rd place (of 27 boys).

After his bike ride he was in fifth, but was pretty beat by then. His running partner, Elijah, came to his rescue and pushed him hard on the run. I met up with him with 1/4 mile left. Taylor was really tired but didn't stop and finished strong. He came in 7th overall!

Brayden's age group was 0-5 so lots of parents were in the water helping their kids swim. I was so proud Bray swam the whole thing. The other three kids that beat him in the swim all had noodles or life jackets.

He had to swim a 25, bike 200 yds and run 200 yds. He was done in a flash!

Bray came in 6th out of 24 boys.

Way to go boys! I was so proud!

{7.3-6} MBA Camping Trip- PJ Hoffmaster State Park

We are so blessed to live close to other families that we got close with during our 2 years at MBA school. This is our second installment of our July 4th camping trip. This year we went a little closer to our home, only 45 minutes away from us, in Grand Haven, MI. It was so fun! We spent most of our time at the beach relaxing but had some fun activities sprinkled in: bike parade, disc golf game for the guys, hiking, snake show, firework watching and ice cream.