Finally-A Post! Another Weekend with A.

It has been a while since I blogged.  Life has been crazier than crazy and my pregnancy is leaving me with little-no energy.  I think there is definitely a difference being pregnant at 22 and being pregnant at 35-even if it is merely being a mom of older children.  We are still unpacking and moving in, prepping the old house for going on the market, driving kids back and forth to their old schools, taking care of some unforeseen problems with the new house, etc...

So, I am beginning with NOW and hopefully I will be able to catch up soon with all that has gone on.  This blog is a great family history and that is the main reason that I desire to keep it up to date.

This last weekend we got to spend with A.  I feel so blessed and lucky that we get to travel each month to see her.  She is a member of our family and we don't get to be around her that often, so getting to see her every 3-4 weeks is a huge blessing for us.  We hope that she always feels loved.

On Saturday, we met some of her friends that she doesn't get to see often.  It was pouring rain, so we went to an indoor playplace and they had a blast.  CK and I are friends with the girls' parents, so fun was had by all!

 I actually didn't take many pictures this weekend.  Not like me at all!  This is A, ready for church yesterday.  The number that she is holding is a tradition that I have done since K was born of taking a picture of them each month, so we can see how they grow.  A is 98 months old and this is the picture that we will use to remember her!

I am such a blessed woman.  Life seems overwhelming and challenging with all we have going on, but it really is a wonderful time to be alive.  I have been blessed beyond measure.  So grateful!

One Last Night

It has been a while since I made the time to blog---and I have had a lot to blog!!!  Hopefully I get caught up soon.  Life has been extra, extra crazy.  Life is already crazy, but it has really accelerated these last few weeks.

A quick run-down of JUST a FEW of the events:

• Feb 26: Turned 35!!
• Feb 28:  CK and I were in charge of the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet.  We did a lot, but others helped also, for which we are so grateful.
• March 1:  Closed on our new home
• March 2:  Left at 4:30 AM to drive to see A.
• March 3:  A was baptized!!!!!  It was awesome and even if I don't get to it all-there WILL be pictures of this!  She also was performing in a play that night and we all got to go!
• March 5:  Drove another 12 hours home.
• March 6:  I had a doctor's appointment:  Yep....12 weeks pregnant.  It is so exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time since we lost the last one at 14 weeks.
• Now we aren't doing much. HA!  It is Spring Break, we are painting and prepping the new house for our move, and packing.  We move Saturday.  (Also TRYING to take care of myself and that baby!)

That brings me to my title:  ONE LAST NIGHT.

Tonight is the last night my kids will sleep in this home (they will be with their dad Thursday-Sunday).  It is so bittersweet.  It is time to move.  We need a bigger home.  Out old home is only 1600 s.f. and we have outgrown it.  When XDH and I purchased it back in 2003, we planned it as a starter home for 3-4 years.  Nearly 9 years later, we are finally moving.  When we moved in to this home, K was a few months away from being 4 and C was a few months away from being 2.  Now they are a few months away from being 13 and 11.  CRAZY!  Of course, J came home to this house.  It is also the only home he has ever known and really the only home that the older two really remember.  A has also only lived with all of us while here at this home.  It is sad to leave.  

Our little house has seen us through a lot:

2003:  Bought house

2004:  Life was good.  Busy, but great!

2005:  Started our own business: a chiropractic clinic.  What a leap of faith!

2006:  J was born

2007:  We went crazy.  The clinic was super busy for both XDH and I.  We also had a newborn/toddler.

2008:  XDH told me, among other things, that he thought that he might want a divorce.

2009:  That separation and divorce happened.  Such horrible heartache!

2010:  Met CK.

2011:  Married CK, lost a baby.

2012:  Moving out and to a new home.

This little home has been there through it all.  I have been so blessed with a great home, a great neighborhood, great schools, a great ward (church congregation), and great friends.  I have been truly blessed beyond measure.  As we look forward to making our new house our home, we are so excited about the many opportunities in front of our family.  Change is hard, no matter the change, but change can also be very good.  I am so blessed.

M's visit

We were soooo lucky to have CK's sister, M, with us for the weekend.

We had such a great time. I am so grateful for her sacrifice to come out here. We loved her visit!

She came in Thursday night.

Friday she helped me pack and we went with J to visit the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  CK and her and I also got to go out to dinner together.  Yummy!

Saturday, we went to the temple and did some more packing.

Sunday was a day of rest and some games.

Monday, we packed some more and enjoyed hanging out together.

Tuesday, we had to say goodbye. :(. We miss her already!  Come back soon!

Weekend with the kids! How fun!

 This last weekend was our one weekend a month with K, C, and J.  We had such a great time!  I love being with my children on a Saturday.   There is just something incredibly special about it. 

We had a great day.  First, we went to the baptism of one of our friends, E.  We love this family so much.  They have been our friends now for 8 years, almost as long as E has been alive.  It was an honor to be able to be present at her baptism.

Next, we packed and we packed and we packed.  We are moving into a bigger house in March and we definitely needed to get started.  We took 5-6 bags to Goodwill Saturday and have at least that many ready to take to the dump.  It feels so good to clean out what has accumulated in the last almost 9 years since we moved here!

 After the packing, we went to do something "fun."  All the kids agreed on going to Putt-Putt.  It was cold and windy, but we still had a great time. 

 C felt a little frustrated.  Many times his ball went right to the hole-looked like a hole-in-one, but, NO, it would bounce out.  :(  He handled it well, though, and we all had fun!

 

After a round of mini-golf, we went in and spent some time with the arcade games.  All the kids had a blast and it was definitely worth going.

Next, we went out to dinner.  There was a lot of discussion on where we should go-anywhere from In-N-Out to Red Lobster and more.  Finally, they each got to put a choice in a"hat" and we pulled one out.  It was IHOP, so off we went.  It was actually very delicious and everyone enjoyed their meals.  Success!

I am one happy, happy woman.  I have an amazing husband.  I didn't know that it was possible to have a marriage be this good.  I really think my marriage now is better than I could EVER have dreamed it could be.  I have four amazing children.  They are each so talented and unique and I am truly in awe of the blessing it is to the be their mother.  I am shocked that I am old enough to have a middle-schooler, but I do and I love her!  Next year, I will have two in middle school.  SHOCKER!   It was interesting to me recently that I attended two events with groups of women.   At both, I was the oldest.  WOW!  When did that happen?  I have spent most of my life being the youngest in the group and now-boom-I was the oldest.  I think that all of a sudden, graduating in 1994 makes me ancient!  How time flies.

Life is busy, as it always is.  In addition to the normal chaos of life, callings, and etc., we are moving next month.  It is just how life is.  I wouldn't change it.  This is the life I live and the life I love.  :)

A time! :)

 

 So, I don't know exactly what is going on, but I am struggling with being able to type and arrange my pictures as I want.  I wasn't able to get it as I wanted, but I will just type starting here (For some reason, I couldn't above).

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to go visit A.  We are so blessed to see her every month.  I am so grateful that we have sufficient for our needs, including taking care of our family.  We got in early Saturday morning.  We went straight to pick her up and go grocery shopping.  She got to open a present from my parents for Christmas (see above).  She loved it. We also went and watched a movie and we went swimming.  We had a nice hotel suite and so we had plenty of space to play games and hang out together.  A loves to pretend store and she loved pulling around the ottoman and selling us her wares.

Sunday, we went to church, hung out, and enjoyed a quiet day together.

 Since Monday was a holiday, we also got to spend time with A.  We went and rode a couple of ferries across the Mississippi river.  It is bald eagle season there and we saw a few above us as we drove to the ferry.

 

This was the bridge we took to get back home instead of the ferries.  We had such a great time.  We ate pizza for lunch and played apples to apples in the car as we drove back.  Always such a great bonding time.  We are lucky indeed. 

Reflections 2012

 C has participated in the PTA Reflections contest every year throughout his elementary career.  This year, he is a 5th grader and it is his last chance to participate.  He won an award at the district level and is now going to state.  I am so proud of all he has accomplished. 

He had to miss scouts, but it was so worth it to be able to be there at this award ceremony together.  Congrats, C!

Portland, OR

It was fun to be back "home" in Portland.  I wished two things:  A)We had more time to visit places that were important to me or just that were really cool, and B) that it wasn't raining the entire time as so much that I loved about living in Portland was all the outdoor opportunities.  It truly is a little peace of heaven on earth.  You just pay for it in the few months of non-stop rain to get there.

After the wedding luncheon, we were close to the school that I taught at so many years before, so we had to drive by.  It, of course, was raining, but we took a quick couple of pictures.  I taught here only one year: '98-'99 until K was born.  It brought back a ton of memories being there.

This is the home where we stayed.  AWESOME!  My mom was smart and rented a house for us to all stay in while we were there for the wedding.  It was nice to have a home to come home to, nice to all be in the same place, nice to have a kitchen, etc..  It was a beautiful home that was decorated very well.  It is situated right on the Tualatin River.

A view of the family from the deck above.

I love him!

Just look how close the house is to the water!  While we were there, the water rose significantly with all the rain.  Good thing the dock is a floating dock!

After much debate about what I most wanted to show CK considering we only had 2-3 hours to site see, I chose to go to Multnomah Falls.  It is beautiful (even in the pouring rain).

This is me with my brother, S.  I am glad that he got to come along with us.  Two of A's friends (that also stayed at the house with us) also came along.

This is the apartment I lived in for 3 out of my 4 years in Portland.  It is a little more run-down and a little dreary-looking with all the rain, but it was a good home and here is where I brought both K and C home to after they were born.

This picture is of my very best Portland friend, D.  She was always there for me and we loved being together.  We talked on the phone for hours daily and we both went through withdrawal when I moved to Texas.  It was so wonderful to see her and her hubby again.  I am grateful for their support of all that I have been through.  CK was awesome and came with me to visit them even though he had never met them before.

When we moved, the two older girls (twins) were the only children they had.  It was fun to meet these other three.

Finally, the trip home.  We first had to fly to Seattle and connect there.  I am not used to flying in these little propeller planes.  We didn't even have a jetway and we just walked out to the plane and up some stairs to get inside.  It was a new experience for me.

J always asks me to take pictures of the clouds when I fly.  So I did.  It actually was quite the view.  We made it home safely New Year's Eve in time to celebrate the new year together and then to get up for 8:30 church the next morning (where I got to teach Sharing Time!).  What a quick trip, but what a blessing that we got to go and that we got to go together.  :)