The Hoyt Family

Ok So my husband is looking at some management positions within his company and there are a few territorys we are considering.. I dont know much about any of them as far as cost of living, Schools and taxes ect.. There are various diffrences in climates between them. If anyone has any good insight of the areas feel free to pass it along. Any help and information I could get would be wonderful... We can live within a 30 min distance of any of these areas..The area's are Flint michigan and surrounding areas. San diego California, Boston Massachussets, New Hampshire( not sure of the area), Sarasota Florida.

Right now it is so cold I am rooting for somewhere warm but I think I will miss having a winter too.. I love snow for christmas but then I am ready for it to be warm again.. I hate being cold.. Its really important to us that we find good schools for our children exspecially with the challenges we are facing with Jessica needing special education classes.. We wouldnt want her to fall through the cracks and not get the help she needs.. We have been blessed to be in such a good school district out here and have had such great doctors that have worked with her and have got us established in getting her the help she needs and we dont want to loose the progress we have made...

Happy hump day everyone!!

Be prepared this is long one..

So we had such a great time going back to Utah for the holidays.. We were a little worried about getting there because the night before we were to leave there was supposed to be a storm and Newark airport is famous for their cancelled and delayed flights so we were expecting the worse!! Sunday morning they ended up cancelling our church because of the icy roads and parking lots which NJ usually gets instead of snow, but by that evening the sun was out and it was beautiful.. It was very hard for us sunday because we had to take our dog to the boarding place we were keeping him at while we were away.. It was so hard I think we all bawled... I could just see him depressed and sad thinking we were never coming back for him..

We all got up Mon. morning at about 3:00 Am and got ready to head out.. Our flight was at 7:00 so being the holidays and having 4 kids we wanted to make sure we were there by 5:30 to give us plenty of time.. Boy that was a joke... Steve had printed off out boarding passes the night before so all we would have to do is check our luggage and head through security. When we got there the lines were miles back.. we were blessed that because of his frequent traveling that he has a silver medallion status or something like that and we were able to go in that line that was much much more shorter. However with only having 10 people in front of us instead of 50 it still took us an hour to get through the line.. And then another half hour to get through security.. We thought we would have plenty of time to get something for the kids to eat but by the time we got through security we had to rush right onto the plane and we barely made it... If we would of had to go in the normal baggage line we would have missed our flight.. whew!!!

We got to utah and it was just starting to snow so the roads were actually pretty good.. The kids could hardly wait to get to grandma's to go play in the snow.. They had been waiting so long to finally have some snow to go play in and thats exactly the first thing they did when we got there. I think almost every other day they were out in the snow..

Jessie even learned how to snowboard while we were there and so now her and Austin really want a snowboard.. It's hard for them to understand that it does no good to have one until we actually can move somewhere that actually has snow.. Even grandma was having fun going down the hill!! The kids had a blast sleigh riding with their cousins..

Even Mom got in on the fun!! My sister in law Kim and I.. I miss her a ton.. All our kids are very close together in age.. We were always pregnant at the same time.. There is 4 months between our first kids then 5 months between our 2nd. The 3rd child I mis carried so there is 11 months between them and our last ones are only 5 days apart.. (and no it wasn't planned like that lol) So needless to say all our kids are great buddies and love spending time with each other.. We definently really miss spending time with them and going camping and water skiing with them in the summers..

The first night we got in we had a christmas party for steve's side of the family which was also his grandmother's birthday.. The kids had a wonderful time getting to finally see their cousins they have missed horribly and have waited all year to see. They got to decorate gingerbread trains but I think eating them was the best part.. And putting some frosting in allie's hair..They got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for christmas.

Even though the kids were a little worried,, Santa did find us clear in Utah..

Check out the size of this sugar daddy bar we found here in NJ and was able to give it to grandpa for christmas..Of course me and dad got our taditional lump of coal and stick of wood that we get each other every year for as long as i can remember.. Logan thought that was so funny when I opened mine up. She was laughing hysterically saying ha ha ha mom you've been naughty!! It was so cute..

It seems we were constantly running from family to family and place to place the whole time that we didnt get much of a break to just sit and relax but it was so nice to see everyone.. We still didnt get to see everyone we wanted to.. There just wasn't enough time to squeeze everyone in.. It was actually kinda harder then we thought.. Steve said I almost wish we didnt come back because it just makes us miss it that much more and its kinda depressing because we want to come back but there just isnt that possibility right now.. Steve's dad was pretty sick while we were there. To make a long story short he has a liver disease and had a transplant in 2001 and he never really has done well since the transplant. for a couple years he was doing ok but it now looks like the disease is back and he will have to have another transplant.. So it was hard for steve to see his dad sick and wish that we were closer to be able to help out the family...

Shortly after Christmas day Logan came down sick with an infection and was running high fevers for 3 days and we ended up taking her into the ER to have her looked at.. Seems she just had an ear and throat infection and had to put her on antiobiotic.. After a few days she was much better but she felt pretty bad because we had to leave her at home with grandma while the rest of us went out sledding or going to other familys houses...

It was very hard on us all to have to leave.. The 11 days went by super fast.. I was so mad at the airlines on our flight back they had us all seperated..2 kids were together on one side of the plane and then 2 other kids were together in the other side of the plane a few rows back and then they had me and steve clear up in the fornt in the exit seats. We hoped we could trade seats with people so we could sit by our kids but the way they had the seating arranged it was all familys with kids all around their seats so no one wanted to trade us and break up their familys. so I ended up sitting alone and steve finally got someone a row back from 1 set of the kids so he could try and help manage them but the other 2 just had to sit alone.. They managed ok but it still really made me mad that they arranged seating like that exspecially when we had booked our flights 8 months in advanced..

The day after we got back Jessie came down with a stomach bug it was not fun.I was just grateful we were not stuck on the plane when it hit.. And Austin came down with fevers and sore throat as well so he was down and out for a few days.. It never fails any time we have to go out and get with family and travel it always seems like we end up getting some kind of sickness.. So far I havnt caught it so I am keeping my fingers crossed.. All in all it was a great trip and we cant wait for the next one..

During the Christmas holidays well right before we left I went and saw the movie Twilight and I really liked it. I hadnt really saw anything about it so I wasnt even sure what it was about but I ended up really liking it and a friend lent me the first book of the series of 4 so I took it with me to utah and had it finished in a week and had to go buy the 2nd one while I was there.. I am now half way through the last book. I have never read like this.. I never enjoyed reading growing up and I dont really read alot now.. There has only been a few books that I have really enjoyed reading and can stick with it. I really like reading Dean Koontz books.. And I have really liked these twilight series I havnt been able to put them down thus my inactivity on blogging..

Since we have been back we have had a little problem with Logan wanting to go back to school. She has just started crying and worrying about going to school. She doesnt want to go she wants to stay home with me and she literally has been making her self sick about it.. Her nerves gets the best of her and she has been waking up every morning for over a week now complaining of belly pain and she has to go to the bathroom 6 and 7 times in the morning before she has even had anything to eat and drink and starts crying and freaks out.. I have never seen her like this and have no idea what to do about it.. I tried talking to her teacher and the conclusion we came up with is that she is just having a late developmental delay of seperation anxiety.. Her teacher said she has seen it twice before with 2 other girls and it happened to take place right after the holidays so hopefully we can get it under control over this next week because it driving me mad.. I have had to go to school with her the last couple of times and sit in there for a while before I can leave.. It seems once she is there it is fine its just getting her there.. She literally starts freaking out the night before and making herself sick worrying through the night about going to school it is the weirdest thing...

And that was our christmas break. Hpe I didnt put you all to sleep with this long post.. That pretty much catches us up to the present..

I'm still here!! I have been so busy I havnt had a chance to get on here.. Plus I am wrapped up in the twilight series right now so every chance I have I am reading, so I promise soon I will be getting back on here and posting all about our wonderful trip home for the holidays!! Hope everyone is having a great start of the new year!!!

You can ALL win a FREE signed 8x10 print of your choice (out of the three prints)! By doing this we can spread his beautiful art and all be winners by having a signed precious picture in our home!!!! THANK YOU AGAIN DAVID BOWMAN may the Lord bless you abundantly :)



Here is what to do to get your free signed 8x10 print:*This offer expires Monday Jan. 5th at noon!!*Copy and post on your blog or website all the items below....Also send an invite to everyone you know to do to the same for them to get a free print.




Ask them to come see David's work and website! You can add your own personal touches if you'd like :)

Then after you post make sure and send David an e-mail at: contact@bowman-art.com so he knows you posted to get your print.From here on is what to copy and post on your website or blog....

I wanted to share these beautiful pictures and what the artist has to say about each one of them! You can ALL win a FREE signed 8x10 print of your choice (out of the three prints), by copying and posting to your blog or website this whole post! After you post then send an e-mail to David (contact@bowman-art.com) with your website or blog address telling him you posted it and that you read about this offer on my blog.



Also send him your name and mailing address and he will send your signed 8x10 print of your choice :) Hurry because...*This offer expires Monday Jan. 5th at noon!!


*David Bowman: has had a passion for art ever since he could pick up a pencil. He loves creating images of the Savior that inspire and uplift. Along with his Christian fine art, David has also written and illustrated a series of scripture storybooks for children titled "Who's Your Hero". Check out his website at http://bowman-art.com/indexFineart.htm to see more of his precious art.

"Innocence"The Savior tells us we need to become as little children to inherit the kingdom of God. I've often wondered what it is about little children Jesus loves most, and I think its their innocence. They are clean slates, seeing the world and others through untarnished eyes. Their hearts are pure, without the baggage of cynicism and self-doubt. In this piece, I've tried to imagine how a child would act upon meeting the Master for the first time. Without reservation or inhibition, I think he would simply want to play with Him. He would be at complete ease, allowing his pure little heart to soak in the love and laughter of His pure, infinite heart. Its no wonder Christ delights in these little ones and sets them up to be our examples.






"Security"One of the greatest human needs is a sense of security. In all aspects of life, we naturally gravitate towards anything that makes us feel safe. In this piece, I wanted to convey a sense of complete peace and calm like only the Savior can provide. It's a security that allows us to rest assured, without fear or worry, when we put ourselves trustingly in His arms. Little children have that inherent kind of trust in their parents, so it's fitting that the man and girl who modeled for "Security" are actually father and daughter. They generatedthe exact feel I was looking for.

"My Child"This piece conveys an intimate, up-close-and-personal feeling of the Savior's love. Notice how all the lines draw your attention and point towards Jesus' face in the center. I chose the name "My Child" because the only thing that could compare (even remotely) to Christ's compassion for us is the love of a parent for his/her child. This image is also intended to put things in perspective. Above all, we are God's children first. He allows us the privelege of experiencing parenthood for ourselves and we are entrusted to be the mothers and fathers of His children here on earth.