WOW long LONG time......

Its that time again GENERAL CONFERANCE oh how I LOVE this time of year, always a time of renewal and a time to look at my life and see where I am and also where my FAMILY is! When I last blogged was last YEAR! holy cow! well........ we are STILL in Alaska by some miracle.  We went through a HORRIBLE year last year just everything and then some seemed to happen to us.  We had job loss, a flood, the loss of a family member, and many other awful things that I would just rather leave in the year 2012!
PHEW! Now we are in the year of 2013 thank heavens and life is good! we are at our FOURTH job and hopefully this one will go a LOT better then the last one since let me tell you what that job ended in a big and dramatic way! We interviewed in Idaho and Washington we got job offers from all jobs interviewed for but.....turned out that we were able to secure a job in Kenai.  It was a tough decision it was exciting to think about getting back to family.  I miss my family my inlaws my friends .....fresh fruit yeah I miss it all, and on this morning when it was 6 degrees when I went to take my kids to school it was hard not to yearn for the days of warmth in Idaho!
Life has taken a big change in many many ways I finally got MYSELF back on track I have had alot of health scares and why those scary things are still there I decided I needed to get my body in SHAPE and HEALTHY on the inside! I started the 24 day challenge from advocare and lost 20 pounds and 35 inches! I mean seriously that is AWESOME! From there that drove me further and now I am on my elliptical everyday running at LEAST 4-8 miles a day.  Its nice to get back in the grove of things I was so healthy in Portland and missed that feeling! I am not there yet but I am a day at a time!
The family is doing good here Landon and Kyran are in hip hop dance and are pretty much the cutest little dancers you ever saw in my professional opinion.  Zaders is progressing and getting smarter everyday love that kid! Riya is four and Tayla is two almost three! she is the one who keeps me on my feet! I mean seriously this little girl is into EVERYTHING and there are days that I am in tears by the end of the day trying to either not laugh or with frustration.  My kids are my pride and joy though they teach me and help me grow~ STAY TUNED I will update more often!

Its been a long time.....

We signed Moms casket and sent her love notes. It was a very special time one I will never forget...

Jesse and I on our wedding date almost 10 years ago.

I am blessed.......I mean I am REALLY blessed, I have struggled to see that as this winter has passed and tragedy has come and gone but when I look around at the end of the day I know with all my heart I am a blessed woman. I have five beautiful children whom I love with all my heart, a husband who I still am madly and deeply in love with, and a supportive family and friends who I love so much.

This March we lost a mother, Jesses mom who I have loved and adored for a very long time. When I first met her all those years ago she welcomed me with open arms, I will never forget her game of bummely bummely buck...... how many fingers do I hold up? How many times she played the "game" with me and with each and everyone of my children. The days of rising so early before the sun would even rise and picking whatever plant needed harvesting at the moment and talking REALLY talking as we worked. I remember her beautiful hands helping me and teaching me to make bread, or can, or cook. I remember the drives I took with mom and the wonderful and sweet advice she gave me. I remember the long drives we would go with everyone to go see the bright leaves. I remember the time when I was in college and sick with the flu and she was there with lemonade and stuck with me throughout the day trying to help me get better and telling me stories of my soon to be husband. I remember my wedding day and how I looked at my own mom and my soon to be mother in law thinking how wonderfuly blessed I was that day. She has been an incredible example to me in my life and her sudden death was a blow to all those around. I love this woman and I am blessed with the knowledge that someday I will see her again and the fact that we are eternally linked and for that I am so grateful. So for now I will revel in my family a little better, I will let them know how I love them and respect them, I will hug my own children a little bit longer, I will listen to that still small voice inside my heart closer and hope to be a little more like my mother in law who taught me so much.

It was a beautiful funeral and seeing my family was so wonderful my sweet friend Annika came up and seeing her was just so amazing. My father in law was absolutely incredible his unshakable faith and sweet spirit throughout this trial has instilled a new look at the world around me, his love for Sozel has changed my own love for Jesse helping it to grow even more. I am so proud to have such amazing in laws and seeing all of them truly helped this experience to be a good thing, a celebration of a beautiful life lived.

Our family is doing well this winter has been a long one and with that a little bit of light depression for all, but we are hanging in there and feel so lucky to live in "Gods Country" Alaska is truly magical and beautiful. I almost ran smack into 3 caribou meandering throughout the road the other day and thought only in Alaska would I have this problem. Spring is coming though the sun is out and so are the airplanes, did you know Alaska has more pilots then any other state? Yep they come out whenever the sun does! The moose are also springing forth we had a friend who just fed a baby moose carrots and pet him in his front driveway!

My family and I are just so excited for the summer to be able to get our boat out and go fishing! or even just cruise up and down the Kenai! Life is good and I have to remember that, because at the end of the day I have my family, I have my beliefs, and I have a wonderful support system.

WOW I am so bad at this blogging thing but at least I try to get things up every couple of months right?!?!

Hoping all of our loved ones had an incredible holiday. We had so much fun and were able to have my parents out for Christmas which provided lots of joyful memories that we will cherish forever! We went to Sealife to watch some sea lions and my Dad and Mom found there love of fourwheeling! good times! We all had a few of our christmas wishes answered (and by few I mean pretty much all of them.....) and all in all just had fun as a family. For those of you who did not get a Christmas Letter my deepest apologies but here it is.....

All in all its been incredible here, we are so blessed to live in such an incredible place that has been a dream to live in with kids. So enough about where we live now onto what we have all been up to these past couple of years!

Jesse- Jesse is working in Anchorage for the time being, it has been a rough go for Jesse getting his career started but I have been so proud of him for sticking to it and working for what he wanted. He commutes 4 days a week to Anchorage and then comes back down to Soldotna from Thursday night to Monday morning. So it works out well for us. There are plans to get him back to Sterling which is right by where we live and we hope and pray that it will work out soon for him.

Jesse is VERY excited to be considered a resident of Alaska now because now it means he has a tag to HUNT. He has put in for every animal there is about and we will hear back in the next few months as to which tags he will receive. Jesse loves Alaska especially the summers with the midnight sun it is amazing to go fishing all night long or boating for that matter. Jesse is also the ward clerk of our ward and while it has been tough to fit his calling in with our family and that chaos that has gone with it he has enjoyed it and feels so blessed to serve the Lord in any way he can. It has been a great move for our family and for our lifestyle the only thing missing is our families!

Heather- Heather is a stay at home mommy for the time being and absolutely loving it, she is also serving in church as the Primary Chorister and loves the kids so much she feels in alot of ways that this was the calling she was born to do. Other then family she loves to run, however, she tends to run where the wildlife ends up being at so she has been charged a few times by moose. This has not deterred her though she is just now more faithful in running with Teton our bullmastiff who has ended up being so protective of our family. She has goals to run a half marathon in the upcoming year, she was planning on doing it last year but hurt her knee right before the race. She has made lots of friends here and loves to hang out with her girlfriends she has come to rely on them in the way of sanity while Jesse is away at work. She is also busy raising the kids and working with them everyday. When she is not doing that she is either cleaning inside, taking care of the outside, or folding laundry.... her favorite thing. She loves the summers as well and her favorite part has been on the boat with the family. We would stay out till midnight with the kids in the summer fishing and it was fantastic! She canned a ton of salmon and is hoping to get stocked up on halibut this upcoming summer.

Tayla- Tayla is 16 months old and such a sweetheart she is a tomboy and LOVES to play with trucks and cars. She is beyond mischievous and gets into EVERYTHING she is on the brink of walking and wants to get in on everything her brothers and sister are into. We love this kid and feel so blessed that she is a part of our family.

Riya- Riya is still our princess so dainty and petite. She loves to play with her dolls and now that she acquired a kitchen and dollhouse during the holidays that is ALL she does. Tayla and Riya “cook” all day long just like their mom does now. She is pretty reserved except for when it comes to the outside she LOVES to play in the snow and sled we have had so much fun with her.

Zade- Our sweet Zade is growing taller and taller and has almost reached the same height as Kyran now. He has been a hard-worker and going to lots of extra classes and therapies to get his speech going strong. He is getting better but we still have alot of work to do with him. We recently found out he may have some hearing issues as well so he has had so much to face in his young life but we continue to try and work with him. He has the sweetest spirit and is so very loving, he is still into his trains and trucks and his best friend right now is Riya they will sit and chatter non stop downstairs it is adorable. It is times like these that I am so happy our kids ended up being so close in age.

Kyran- Oh Kyran, if any kid is going to give me grey hair it will be this one, he is always looking to do new tricks and recently decided jumping off my back deck onto the hill with his snowboard was a good idea. I literally cannot watch him sometimes but he is Kyran my wild child. He is doing well in school and is very smart the problem is he finishes early sometimes and then he has free time in which his mischievous ways come into play. All in all though he loves his kindergarten class and is doing well. He is a great helper to me and while he is wild he is probably our biggest cuddler and he teaches me so much about life everyday.

Landon- Landon is doing well in school and making friends, he loves his teacher and things are going so much better this year for him. Landon has had some of the most incredible adventures living in Alaska in Scouts he went on a fishing expedition, for a field trip they went out to Exit Glacier and hiked around. Living here has helped Landon break out of his shell and learn to love the outdoors, and for that I am so grateful.

All five kids have been growing and changing each day it has been such a wonderful gift just to watch them grown and see what little personalities they have ended up with. We have had many miracles in our lives these past few years and are so grateful for this season of celebrating Christ and his life, we have an everlasting testimony of him and what he has done for us and the incredible example he is to all mankind. We thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, love, and support as we have made it through the journey of schooling and onto the journey of life. We love you all so much and pray that you had a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!!!!

With Love,

Jesse, Heather,Landon

Kyran, Zade, Riya, and Tayla Mumm

Plugging along...always plugging along....

I WAS A PIRATE WHAT WERE YOU!?!!?

RIYA WAS A PRINCESS TINKERBELL!
TAYLA THE PRECIOUS LION!
LANDON ON HIS FIELD TRIP!
Well what the heck is new at the Mumms....

Well there are a few lil things. Projects and extra children , a wedding in Texas and SNOW!

I cannot believe that we have almost been in this beautiful country for a year, how I love it here and feel so blessed to have this great adventure and all the oppurtunities for my kids. Landon just had the opportunity to go hiking at Exit Glacier. I mean SERIOUSLY he got to hike on a GLACIER!! how cool is that! I think the most exciting field trip I took was to a zoo....which I might add had a lot of the same animals that we have just roaming around here. Kyran and Jesse were able to go on a field trip together a few weeks back and that was so exciting for both of them. I was so grateful that they were able to have time to themselves while the 3 days of heaven with Jesse are just that .... the 4 days can be well quite difficult. I am so very grateful for a good solid job and the workplace has treated us very well and we feel very blessed. They are throwing a big Christmas Ball .... seriously a BALL! with prom dresses and everything so that will be quite amazing Im excited to see what its like!

As for Kyran he is rocking out in school and doing so well I am proud of that lil guy! Zade is struggling a little in preschool but we have him going to therapy 3 times a week and that is helping he is such a special guy and I love him so so so so so much he brings such joy to our family! he learned 3 colors just this week! we have been working on this for awhile and he is just getting it Im SO EXCITED for that! Riya and Tayla are just the best of friends and drumroll please.......TAYLA TOOK HER FIRST STEPS! with Daddy here I was so happy he was there to witness the official FIRST STEP! she is getting so big and is the cutest lil girl with the biggest dimples and most devilish grin you cant help but to smile back at her.

As for me I am doing pretty well I had one of my best buds kiddos while they were lucky enough to go to Africa. We had SO much fun I love those 2 kiddos so much and her lil guy and his hugs and smiles just always made my day! Zade was so happy to have his best friend living with him for a couple weeks they were great!

Now I have 2 other kiddos ... who are just by chance FROM Africa and also 2 special lil guys the kids have had fun having some new adopted siblings for the time being.

Another exciting note.....MY BROTHER GOT MARRIED! I am so proud of him and it was so great to see all of my family and meet my sister in laws side. We had a blast and enjoyed the warm texas weather and an added bonus we were able to go see my brother in law Jake and his family I love them so much and it was SO wonderful to see them and hang out with my wonderful niece and nephews they are getting so big!

Also on Halloween we got our first BLIZZARD oh my gosh the snow was just dumping down I had to go plow it was crazy!!!! All in all though things are going so well here we have our good days and our bad days but life is good!

Things are scary out there. The economy is unsure....jobs are shaky...... everything is unstable except for the overwhelming love I have for my family and for my Heavenly Father he is there. I feel him when I pray and I have witnessed his miracles in my life and the lives of those I know and love. As we head into the Thanksgiving/Christmas season I hope that we can remember what we believe and stand up for it!

Change in the air again....

Russian Falls see that waterfall?!?! Salmon jump UP it amazing huh!!!!Know what that is.....bear poo in my backyard SICK!!!! takes like a SHOVEL to scoop out I should have put my foot next to it to compare the size but seriously NASTINESS!

One of my nearest dearest friends here shes pretty much my family here and her kids yep I love em like my ownKiddos being crazy at Russian Falls!
Its about a 5-6 mile hike in and out and we POOPED the dog out .... we strapped him to our jogger and made him pull our kids up the steep hills poor guy DEF earned his keep that day!

Our sweet new camper!
How big was the last fish YOU RODE?!?! Sawfest guys with chainsaws MAKE THESE right in front of your eyes its AMAZING! This is in Homer Alaska (where they film the Deadliest Catch..sometimes you even get to see cast wandering around if your lucky ;) )

As sad as this is....my first alaskan catch a Dolly Varden.....but just for the record TODAY I caught 2 TEN POUNDERS!!! good eating tonight!!!!
This is one of my best friends friends for almost a DECADE! she was at my wedding and I felt so glad and privilaged to be there as she sealed herself to her eternal sweetheart. What a special and wonderful day that was and to be with friends in Portland was INDESCRIBABLE!!!! Yep me and MY eternal sweetheart had to throw him in there since hes still handsome as ever sweeping me off my feet everyday how blessed I am and how I love him!
AFTER well almost after we almost there you get the point :0)
BEFORE horrible huh!
Well my friends once again I have waited to long to blog....but life with 5 children and constant ups and downs just happens.... and so as a result sometimes my blog does not happen :0)

Anyhoo where the crap do I begin with whats going on in the life of the Mumms.....we are still living here in Soldotna and to make the official announcement although it did happen a few months back....

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of you knew, some may be shocked, some may talk whatever..... its our dream house and we love it here the kiddos are happy here and so are we....another big shocker

WE LOST OUR JOB....AGAIN no seriously AGAIN.....

Yep Jesse had been working his little heart out at the hospital and without real warning BAM they fired us with no reason....literally that is what they wrote out was that there was NO GOOD reason for firing Jesse. So as you can imagine it was quite the sucker punch, we were shocked and hurt and oh did I mention SHOCKED. But about a week later a little miracle in our lives....there are 2 guys in our church who run and small family clinic (and does the hcg diet) and they were looking for another PA and when they found out Jesse was out of work they IMMEDIATELY offerred us a job. It is difficult because Jesse travels about 4 days a week so we only see him for 3 but they are 3 solid days of Jesse which is heaven. Then came the REALLY good news they are building a new clinic literally about 1.5 miles down the road from our new home so Jesse could just bike to work if he really wanted too amazing right?!?! God really does have a plan for us even through the devestating times where we think life just stops it is really just a turn in the road for us.

So Jesse is there now and they absolutely LOVE him there are no doubts there even had the doctors wife call me and tell me how lucky they feel to have him! and a HUGE bonus is I started the hcg diet! and guess what IT WORKS in 3 weeks I am down 20 POUNDS seriously 20 POUNDS. Is it kinda tough yeah it really is the diet gets some getting used to and well first thing in the morning taking a shot in the thigh never did make the list of things I wanted to do in life but as I see myself shrink down again I am good with whatever works!

So there are the 2 biggies in our lives then there are a few smaller biggies we REMODELED our kitchen WAHOOO because seriously the plaid wallpaper and blue counters were awesome and all but HAD TO GO!!!! and thanks to our awesome contract with the hospital that they broke we were all set up to go through with it and thus that is what we did!

Then of course we lived in Alaska and thought we best be getting a camper to put our kiddos in and soooooo yep we got one of those too..... great lil camper a 95 with bunk beds and the perfect layout for our family so we are READY!!!!

Now for some coolness went to the fish run today and you know how many fish had gotten through....230,000 that is an all time record here! fishing was a DREAM you put your pole in and BAM about every 5-10 min you would get a hit! that is until the tourist invaded and it became combat fishing which is LAME and man they get a lil rude as well! but that didnt ruin the day I took my 5 kids by myself and we caught 2 big ones and I felt pretty dang accomplished by the end of it!

So we are doing well here, which means something I am sure will happen soon a little hiccup in life but we have what is most important to us our beliefs and the gospel to steady us, our family which is important above all, and all around us we have this incredible nature. That is one thing that is so different here there is a special peace and beauty in Alaska that you do not find other places you look at the landscape and you meet the people here and you know it is just filled with a goodness you cannot explain I love it! I hope you are all doing well and enjoy the pictures my love to all my family and friends in the lower 48 I miss you so very much!

We ARE alive we have not been eaten....yet

Hello to all!

It has been a LONG LONG LONG time since I have updated my blog, things have been crazy what can I say moving a whole world away from all our familiar surroundings has definately been a process. But we are HERE and really do love it. If we had sat down and put down on a list all of our dreams of what the perfect town would consist of for our family to grow up in I think that Soldotna would have about every single quality that we wanted.

We live in a beautiful log cabin its 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and just adore living here. We have had moose, we have seen one bear (well to be clear it was a bear butt but Jesse doesnt think I should go announcing I saw a bear butt in my backyard ha ha) We have been to one side of the peninsula clear over to the other and we love it ALL. We have not lived through a fishing season yet but we are counting on that to provide some food for our deep freezer that seems to empty a little more each day, as my kids grow so do their appetites! and along with all the wonderful things of Alaska one of the biggest drawbacks is that food is kinda spendy here. It is worth it though, whatever we pay extra in we feel as though our quality of life here is so much richer.

The people of Alaska are what truly impress me, they are kind and loving and have welcomed us with open arms. I have met some of the most incredible women here who I already love very much they are absolute angels to me! So hows Jesse Im sure your wondering, he is doing well he loves his job in orthopedics and is just trying to learn everything he possibly can to best assist the doctor. The kids are all doing wonderful.

Landon is settling into his new home and really liked his new school hes struggled a little but things are getting better for him everyday!

Kyran is well hes Kyran my wild child he searches everyday for a bear to shoot, definately his fathers son.

Zade is coping we are still trying to get his speech under control it is very hard to understand him but we are working as hard as we can.

Riya is doing fantastic mostly because she is POTTY TRAINED WAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! she is the little princess that she has always thought she was and is loving it here, she loves to point to the different animals she sees and her favorite place on earth is Sea Life.

Tayla is CRAWLING and eating and just growing I can hardly believe how big she has gotten! it goes by so dang fast.

So that is a quick update of where the Mumms are at we are trying to keep the faith and keep our chins up as we make our way through this difficult life.