The Claus Family

It's no secret that Halloween is Jake's favorite Holiday. I, on the other hand, don't believe it's even a real holiday. The boys love Halloween though- so for them (all 3 of them), I always try to make it fun! Jake decided to dress up as a lumberjack. Jack decided to be a fireman (big surprise)! And our Little man Jess decided he wanted to be a "scary ghost". It was hard to get Jess to wear his costume at first, but by Halloween night he was all for it.

So this year we had a little Halloween party at our house for the Claus family to all get together the Saturday before Halloween. We had food, face painting, costumes, and lots of candy! Fun was had by all. Most everyone dressed up (minus yours truly of course), and looked awesome! Jesse and Amanda were the cutest in their Wizard of Oz ensemble! We even had an Easter inspired Halloween Candy Hunt in the big grassy common area behind our house. That was the best ever because it only took 5 minutes, and everyone had enough candy for all of us parents to raid after bed time. :)




Then on Halloween evening My parents and Jake and I and the boys went out to Juli and Andrew's new house in Nampa and had dinner and went trick or treating together. It was so fun to let the boys and beth run up to each door together.

Jess had a hard time leaving each porch as he kept exclaiming "Thank you!" "Happy Halloween!" "I a scary ghost!" "You're welcome!" etc. It was pretty funny. He might just have a future in door to door sales. There wasn't a single door that we could convince him to pass up. Even if all of the lights were off he insisted on knocking and waiting.

The kids ended the night by trick or treating back at Juli and Andrew's house where GranDawnie and Papa were eagerly waiting.

You know, Halloween isn't so bad after all. :)

We have now been Boiseans again for 4 weeks. I have to say- it feels as though we never left. The 6 months that we spent trekking the country seem like they went by in the blink of an eye. Now it's already September, and there's a chill in the air (most days). We are just doing our thing now and enjoying our family. I forgot how busy life can be when our 4 parents, 4 siblings, 4 siblings in law, 8 neices & nephews, 9 cousins, 2 cousins in law, 3 Aunts, 3 Uncles, 2 grandparents, a handful of great friends, and 2 dogs are in the same town as we are. And since I am the resident Hair stylist, photographer, decorator, movie maker, and Sunday dinner hostess of the family- our life has been nothing short of full! Not to mention the traditional Boise State game gatherings at the Claus House that have now started.

There's nothing really exciting to report.....just the usual day to day kid stuff. Jess' new thing is his preoccupation with monsters and ghosts. He loves to play monsters with jake and I, but for some reason he always get really scared of me after about 3 seconds, holds out his hand in protest, and states "I not like it anymore!" We also have to constantly tell him to stop chewing on everything. He's completely content with his new nickname "The Beaver". Shoes seem to be his chew accessory of choice.

Jack's new thing is running errands with people. Auntie Juli took him to Home depot- which was a laugh in and of itself due to the phonetical challenges of the name. Juli tried to convince him that it was pronounced "Home Deep-oh", but he argued that if it was supposed to be pronounced that way- it wouldn't have a "t" on the end. Jack loved the trip, and since has also visited Costco (which is his new favorite place of course). He's such a good big brother, and he even tells us when it's dark outside and obviously bed time. Both of our kids love to sleep- and practically put themselves in bed every night. We'd probably let them- except they are just too stinking cute to miss that night time ritual.

As for Jake, he's working hard. He's running a branch of DishOne satellite here in Boise, and he sells DirecTV and Dish Network. He has always loved being out and talking to people, and he really likes the people he's working with. Being able to set his own schedule and really be his own boss isn't too bad either. If any of you want an awesome sales job- He's hiring! Jake has also started the INSANITY work out by BeachBody. It is exactly that. INSANE! I tried it for 5 minutes and my calves are still sore (I'm a total wimp though). Jake really likes it, and has done it for a week straight now. I can already notice results!! Jake is always so good about doing what it takes to take good care of himself. I need to follow his example!

I have just been keeping busy taking lots of pictures of my cute extended family! I just love taking portraits of people, and nothing makes me happier than Family Picture season!!! It's always stressful for everyone in our family to all find a time to get together- but it's always worth it. We have the Claus family picture photo shoot this week, and I'm crossing my fingers it'll come out as good as the past years' photos have. I took a picture of Oma and her 8 grandkids last sunday, and it came out super cute.

I'm also trying to take better care of myself- and I've decided I'm going to start walking again. I used to walk 3 miles everyday before I got married, and then after the wedding I got lazy!!! So my mom and I are going to go at it again, and we are going to LOVE it. Right? eh? eh? Yes. We'll love it. When you see us dragging our feet and scowling in the early hours of the morning- just remind us that we love it, will ya? I also finally decided to do something about my flat feet, and thanks to Idaho Foot and Ankle (Dr. Jones), I will have custom orthotics in about a week that will make my feet and lower legs feel waaaaaaay better. Oh- and I got an AWESOME adjustment from Dr. Henzy, my chiropractor. I'm on my way to a picture of health. Now I just have to lose the 10 lbs I have gained in the last 2 weeks. Blasted Kettle Corn and peanut butter M&Ms..... I love you- but I hate you. Oh- well. Now I have a plan.

So that's the gist of our life right now.

Since the last time I blogged about 3 weeks ago we have; changed jobs, packed a U-haul, sold our furniture, driven through five states in 3 days, stayed with the Edvalsons in Fresno, changed time zones, visited 2 different temples, got an addition to the Claus family (Mrs. Amanda Claus), got new furniture, started class at Boise State (again), and probably blinked a few times.

If we ever stayed in one place or stuck with just one plan, I'm convinced Hell would freeze over, and we would surely die. When I married Mr. Claus I had no idea I would become such a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants person! I can't lie though- I wouldn't have it any other way. Knowing that we are free to make the best decisions for our family no matter what they might be, and where they might take us- makes me happy.

I guess I should start at the beginning of the madness.

It was the beginning of August. We decided that we would leave the LA area where we were living and move to Boise for a job opportunity there. Jake's brother Jesse and Amanda's wedding in Salt Lake City, UT was only 10 days away and we knew we wanted to make it in time to attend. Our friends Danny and Erin, who we were working for, were throwing an end of the season work party in Fresno that weekend. We decided that we would go to Fresno for the party, and then head back to our home in Lancaster and spend the next few days packing up. The party was the Saturday, the 6th of August. It was a blast! They rented Jet skiis and a pontoon boat and we cruised around the lake in Fresno for the afternoon. It was great to take a break in the middle of all of the craziness and just have fun as a family. I even got pulled over on the Jet ski by Lake cops. Speeding in a 5mph zone. Yeah- I admit I was going 7-8mph. ;)

Then we headed back to Lancaster and tried to tie up all of the loose ends there. We sold our bed (that we had only purchased just 6 weeks earlier, but hated), our fridge, the boys' bed, and our ottoman. We tried to sell our couches and the TV, but there are so many couches listed on craigslist in LA that the prices they were going for were ridiculously low. So we crammed the couches, our 42" TV, and all of our other belongings into our 5' x 8' U HAUL trailer. We left on Tuesday, August 9th and headed to stay with Danny and Erin in Fresno.

We knew we were going to spend one day in Fresno just playing with Danny and Erin and the boys and Jake and I went to the Fresno Temple. We had a great time that afternoon. We stopped at a water park for a little while and let all of the boys get soaking wet- including Jake. Later that evening we said our goodbyes and headed out for Reno.

We arrived in Reno at about 2:00am Thursday morning and found a really nice hotel. They normally charged $200 a room, but since it was already the middle of the night, Jake negotiated $70. The boys were happy to crawl into bed and so was I!

Thursday morning the boys ordered room service (Jake figured since he saved so much money on the room, it would be a fun thing to do). Jack and Jess loved it! Although we found that no matter how fancy the meal- it's appearantely better with their feet on the table. So says Jack anyway.

Then the long leg of the journey. Reno to Boise. We left at noon, and arrived in Boise around 8:00pm. The boys were spectacular the whole time. No puking, No whining, No fighting, No crying. They just talked with us, and watched DVDs, and slept. BEST TRIP EVER in our history of traveling!

We had decided that we were going to take over Eric and Jackie's lease on a new townhouse in Boise, but they weren't going to be out of it for a few more days- so we planned on staying with my parents for the first weekend in Boise. Juli had listed our couches and TV on Boise's craigslist, and it wasn't 10 minutes after we arrived here that someone called and wanted to purchase them. Supply and Demand. Go Boise. Go Juli.


Friday. August 12th. Jesse and Amanda's wedding day in SLC. Jake and I woke up early and took my mom's car (our truck was obviously still packed full) and headed to Utah. We left the boys with my mom because there was no way we were dragging them on one more day of driving!



The ceremony was at 4:00pm, and we got there just in time. It was beautiful. Amanda was beautiful. Jesse looked happy. Seeing the family was great.

The only thing that went wrong (and there had to be something- since there always is with me) was that I pulled out my camera to start taking their portraits, and my 4 month old lens was broken. BROKEN!! I have never had a lens break in my life, and this one was just completely not functioning. CRAP. I got out my 50mm 1.4, which is definitely NOT ideal for this scenario (with huge groups of people in close proximity to one another), and started shooting. I made it work- but was less than satisfied with the experience.

There were 70 weddings that day, and brides emerging from the temple every 20 minutes, surrounded by their 50 person wedding parties. There were probably 300 people on the temple grounds at any given moment, and at least 12 photographers fighting for portrait locations.

At least Jesse and Amanda let me to another shoot the following week in Boise, which I WAS happy with. :) Thanks to them for putting up with me. They had a really cute reception that the kids got to attend in Boise a week later.

After the ceremony and the family dinner friday night, Jake and I got straight back into the car and headed back to Boise. We were ready to get home and get settled. Saturday, the 13th, we shopped for furniture, and unloaded our truck of belongings into the garage at our townhouse. Sunday we went to church and saw everyone at our old ward. I had missed all of those wonderful people and it was fabulous to see them all on my first weekend back. After church we hosted a dinner at our new house for my family, and they helped us start to put together our house. We only really got the TV mounted, and the computer put together- but we had a lot of fun just catching up.

That Sunday night was the first night we stayed in our new house (which we are crazy about), and it felt like home immediately. The next week was full of new job business, unpacking, and getting settled. It went by in a blur.

Last weekend Jakes parents invited us to go to the lake with them and Aunt Sally, Uncle Ken, Grandma Great, and Grandpa Hal (who were in town for Jesse's boise reception). We love being on the lake, and the boys can't get enough of Opa's boat. All of the grand kids were together for the first time all summer- and they loved seeing eachother. Jack even went tubing with cousin Stella and cousin Matthijas. He would never refer to it as a tube though. It was "the rubber raft". I guess it made him feel safer to give it that title. Jake and I went tubing with Arcadia and Jess (who ended up getting dumped into the lake when I lost my flip flop and was moving around in the raft looking for it. He didn't seem to be too upset by it though. He's a pretty tough little man. It was great to spend time with Jake's family on Saturday. So great- that we invited them all over Sunday for dessert and games. It just wouldn't have felt like we had really moved in until we had the everyone on both sides of the family visit the house. It's such a great house! I'll have to post pictures soon. :)

So now we are just enjoying getting into the swing of being in Boise, and working, and planning our next move. Yesterday Jake went to Boise State and registered for one class at Boise State. He just likes being on campus, his job schedule allowed him time for it- and we figured a little extra education can't hurt. He has his degree in paramedicine, but he's toying with the idea of getting a business degree eventually, since he works in the field of sales. We know that we'll be here in Boise for at least 6 months, which is long enough to finish a semester of math class. As far as the rest of that business degree is concerned, we'll just have to wait and see.

It's so great to be back. Spending time with family has been priceless! Juli and Andrew's baby Ami is getting big so quickly, and Jackie and Eric's baby is due in February- and we're super excited to be here for that. Jack and Jess love getting to spend time with their Boise cousins. The holidays just wouldn't have been the same without everyone either. So everyone that bet that I would be back within a year (Mike), you were right. :) But I'm betting it won't be for long. ;)