Packing.......

Yup. That is about all we have been up to for the last two weeks. It has been really rough being down here without Steve but we are making it and becoming stronger! We have been blessed with amazing friends who have been taking care of us and helping us in any way they can. We are moving this Saturday. We weren't planning on moving until the end of the month but I hate being down here all alone. I am not cut out for single parenting!

 

This is what my living room looked like a few days ago. It is much worse now!



I found this while I was packing the garage. This is the "Jersey" that Logan used to wear to Steve's football games while he was playing for Snow. So cute! Hard to believe he was ever that small!



We also found Steve's high school football helmet. The boys were so adorable trying it on.





Logan in Daddy's helmet.



Sunday on our own

Wish me luck! In about 2 hours I will be attempting to take the boys to church by myself. This ought to be interesting! They are a handful when it is both Steve and me.

Got a few more boxes packed, and about half of the wall decor. My house it a disaster, and I don't see it improving anytime soon. Oh well. All for a reason, right?

neighbors

The hardest part about moving is leaving our friends. We have been so blessed in the short time we have been here to make some really wonderful friends, and I am so sad to leave them. They have been going above and beyond trying to help, and take care of my boys and me while we are so far from Steve. Such a blessing.

We just have one car, and Steve has it with him in Ogden. So I have been worried about things like grocery shopping, and getting to church. Some friends of ours went camping for the weekend and offered to let me use their second car until they get back. They didn't have to do that, they are just ridiculously sweet like that. Another wonderful friend gave me 20-25 great boxes to use, and her packaging tape. She has been such an emotional support to me, I am so sad to not see her everyday.

Man, I am a wreck. Literally tearing up as I sit here writing about how blessed we are. I am so grateful that we have had a chance to know these neighbors of ours, even if it wasn't for nearly long enough.

July 1st

I woke up today feeling a twinge of sadness. Not for how things are. I would be very ungrateful if I wasn't happy with how blessed we are lately. The sadness I felt was for what could have been.

Today would have been our baby's 2nd birthday. Steve and I would likely be starting to have conversations about having a fourth. I was surprised that today snuck up on me. I guess over time the pain has finally started to really fade. I certainly still want more children. I even still get teary eyed when I think/talk about it too much. But I am past the point of crying about it out of the blue. Sometimes it is still hard for me to be excited when yet another person announces their "totally unplanned, got pregnant without even trying" pregnancy, but at least I can be genuinely happy for them now, even if I am still jealous that it isn't me.

I guess that is what it comes down to at this point, for me. I am happy for those who are having babies. Along with that though, I am sad that it isn't me.

I hope at some point we will be there again, but for now I think that it just isn't supposed to be. For whatever reason. And when it is supposed to happen for us, it will. Whether biologically or through adoption, I truly believe we are meant to have more children. Just not right now. Someday.

moving

Well, the move is official. I have now packed TWO boxes. Today I also gave the management our 30 days notice. I am feeling a little overwhelmed right now, but it will all work out. Yesterday when Steve was leaving to head up to Ogden I literally started to cry a bit. It really surprised me. I thought that I would be more rational about the whole thing, but - no. It is going to be a rough few weeks, for everyone. We will get through it and soon we will all be back together again. I am most sad about leaving where we are. We have been here a year and a half and it really feels like home, we have wonderful friends and a great home on a very quiet street.
Steve had his first day today and he said it went really well. I can't wait till we are up there with him.

finally

(this post was written yesterday, but blogger wasn't working)

It has been a frustrating last couple of months. Steve passed the NCLEX in April and he has been trying feverishly to find an RN position since then. The problem being, that all of the available RN positions want someone with experience. Which of course Steve doesn't have yet. In the last few weeks he has finally started to get some interviews and we started to feel hopeful. Friday he got a phone call offering a job in Page Arizona. (but we didn't feel like it was a good fit for us.) After he got off the phone he got another call, this one from Ogden asking him to come up for an interview and polygraph on Monday. So we went up Sunday and on Monday Steve went to Ogden and took a three hour polygraph and a short interview. Tuesday we left to go back to St George, nearly halfway through the trip he got a phone call from Ogden offering him the job! They needed him to do a drug test before he could start, so we flipped around and came back. After MANY more phone calls and a lot of discussion, Steve was asked that his first day be Thursday. So today he drove back up to Ogden for the drug test and then took the boys and I all the way down to St George (so we can pack up and things) and he went right back up to Ogden. We are so grateful for this job offer. It is a great position and we have so many wonderful friends and family who are stepping up to help us get things figured out. We are so excited about our future and we are ready to begin this next part of our journey!

Logan is 6! Scooby Party!

Table set up.

Made Scooby-Doo suckers for party favors. These were a big pain to make, but they sure turned out cute! you can't see them really well, but i made 'hamburger' cupcakes for the kids. cupcakes cut in half with a brownie in the middle. easy and cute! these were the biggest hit with the kids as far as the treats went.



Not super happy with how the cake turned out. I hate it when I can't translate into reality what I picture in my head.



Made each layer a different color, the kids thought it was so cool!

Made a set of "Scooby Snacks" for each child as a favor. These were both cute and simple to make. easy, easy!         

I don't know why I even ask Bronson to smile!

I asked them to smile. This is what they give me. I have about a million more of these types of pictures!

First thing I had the boys do was go outside with markers and stickers and decorate paper bags. I took this opportunity to hide the gifts so we could start our mystery hunt! After they finished their bags I asked them to come in so we could open presents, only to find out that the gifts were missing!! They found a clue leading them down the hall to defeat the 'ghosts'!



The 'ghost' balloon pop was hysterical! They had such a hard time popping the balloons. They were all such good sports, just kept trying and trying. They were so excited when they spotted the balloon with the clue inside! That clue sent them to knock the bat out of the tree--so to the bat pinata we went! 



I got very few pictures of this game, I was on my own and couldn't move the pinata around while taking pictures,

Made this fun bat pinata for the boys to knock around. I was worried it wouldn't be tough enough, but it held up great. Just the right amount of a challenge. The clue inside the pinata sent them inside to play 'don't eat scooby'.

Logan in explaining the game of 'don't eat scooby' to the boys. basic rules: put one small candy on each square. one child leaves the room, the others choose one square to be 'it' and call the child back in. that child proceeds to eat one candy at a time. if they try to eat 'it' then the others yell out 'don't eat scooby'!! so fun, so easy. the kids get really into it! The clue here led them outside for a mummy wrap!

We split into two teams and they tried to get their entire roll of tp onto their 'mummy' first. the kids were so funny! they had a hard time going slow enough so that it wouldn't tear, and they got very creative, sticking the ends in pockets things. such smart little guys!

The clue here sent them to the backyard to find all of the 'scooby snacks'!

I altered some tp and paper towel rolls to kind of look like dog bones, and wrote the kids names on them. there were clue pieces in some of them and the clue sent them inside for cake! i sent them outside with their drinks and cake and pulled back out the presents. i then took them out the last clue which just sent them back inside. they were so so excited! it was so fun, the kids just loved the mystery hunt.