5.22.16

I had an appointment Monday to try to get a few things figured out. It is easier to have a conversation with a doctor without a 3 yr old, so I asked a friend to watch S. Her daughter is S's age and they have the best time together. Oh, how I love them! It was her friend's birthday, so they went to get their nails done as well as playing and having fun. It's nice to have good friends!

We went over to see Nana and Papa on Tuesday and help them plant their garden. After we got it all done S helped Nana water her plants and seeds to help her garden start growing. 

helping Nana water

pushing Papa to his room

Then somedays you just have to take silly pictures. With Mr. Potato Head tongues. Mostly just because you can.

S had been asking to go to the Children's Museum for quite a while. We had a pretty full day, with no nap, and by the time we got to that point I was done being the entertainment committee. The museum seemed like a great choice. I love all of the fun things they have to do outdoors as well as in. 

Saturday we were back at it again trying to get the cupboards finished up. We thought we would have things finished, but were given a wrong piece and had to run back to Home Depot again. We only lack the doors, but am hoping to finish it one day this week. 

We took dinner for Nana and Papa Sunday evening. We stayed for a tad bit to watch a short movie with them. It's not a great picture, but it's a fun memory to save. 

Sunday we were getting ready to do our family picture and waiting for Brett. S wanted to take my picture, and I just wanted to do whatever makes her happy...would keep her happy :)

me

S

our family

and our silly family

5.15.16

We took time clearing out our office space so that we could add some built in cabinets. S was pretty cute shining her light between the baseboard (helping me) remove the baseboard so that we could have the cabinets flush against the wall. 

little helper

We went over to visit Noelle before she had to start back in classes. She had picked up this adorable dress for S a few weeks before. She loves it. As soon as she put it on, she squealed, "It twirls!!" It was so thoughtful of Noelle to think of S.

So, I had this day that didn't start out great, and just ended up going down the tubes. We headed out to pick up our mower from the repair shop. I get there, and they don't open for another 30 mintues (I drove 15 to get there, so there was no way I was just going to go home). I ended up taking S to a nearby park. Sadly, she had on flip flops and she was not happy shortly after getting there with wood chips stuck in her shoes. Thankfully once we made it to the wooden platforms, all was well. At least until I followed her through a little kid sized tunnel and smacked my head pretty good on my way through. 

queen in the beehive

After our little wait, we made our way to the shop...only to find out that the mower wouldn't fit with the boxes (really heavy 200 pound boxes) that were in the back of the car. No one was available to help quickly, so I unpacked them from the car piece by piece and went back to pick up the lawn mower...again. Blah! Thankfully we got it home without much problem. I had a friend who could stop by to help me unload it. Heaven knows my yard was in bad need of a mow and I wanted to get it done! I got about half way done before I ran out of gas. At that point I needed to put S down for a nap anyway. I was able to take a little breather. A friend texted to meet them at the park, and after my morning I was totally happy to! We ran to grab some gas on the way home from the park. S had been really good through everything, and I grabbed us a slurpee while I got gas. We came home, and I worked to finish mowing the lawn. It was a little after 5 when I finished...kind of. After one tank of gas the mower wouldn't start again. I was SO frustrated! We had plans we all needed to be clean for. I showered, bathed S, Brett got home, then we started to figure out dinner when my sister-in-law, Kerri, called. She was at my in-laws home and needed tylenol for her 1 yr old. We were headed there shortly, but she ran over anyway. This was the kicker of my whole day. The only bottle I could find had a tiny hole for a syringe. I couldn't find a syringe small enough to fit in the hole. Ugh! The last syringe I found pushed that part of the cap farther into the bottle. at that point the only option I had to to push it all the way in to access the medicine. So, I take a butter knife to push the plastic in to get to the medicine. The knife apparently was sharper than I thought. It was SO painful. It bled like crazy! Brett was able to butterfly it together. It has continued to be sore for the past week plus. Anyway, crappy end to a crappy day. 

Brett's first aid skills at work

our weekly family picture

5.8.16

Seriously. In the past 3 plus years I haven't gone this long without blogging. Life has been a bit hectic and I have been occupied with so many other things. Ugh. So, I'm going to give this a shot and see what I can remember from the past three weeks...

Brett was traveling from the 3rd to the 8th. We definitely had some challenging days as well as some really fun days. I am really grateful that I am not a single parent...for more reasons than one! At the end of one of those really long days I had to take this picture. She is such a precious little girl! I wanted to just pick her up and snuggle her, but I didn't dare for fear of waking her.

I had a rather long day later that week, and was hugely disappointed when I opened the door to pick up a package we had ordered from foster care only to find it totally cut open. It was sitting on my front porch, hidden behind our column, and someone had come and cut it open. It was maddening! It felt like such an invasion of privacy. To say I was mad might be an understatement.

We went up to visit my sister and her kids (visiting from Idaho), and my parents while Brett was gone. We spent one full day, and went home the following. I miss our kids being able to get together so much. S and M are only 3 weeks apart. Maybe one day they'll make their way back to Utah so we can see them a bit more often.  

a wiggle car together

cousin fun

treats with grandma and grandpa

 So, some nights when I am on my own I opt to let S choose her own dinner...because it doesn't seem worth the fight to eat a "mom approved" meal. This night (only night we did this) her choice was "Super S" cereal, raspberry lemonade, green olives, and applesauce. Yum ;)

dinner of her choice

The day before Mother's Day we got family together at my sister's house for a barbeque. Then we all just hung out afterward together. It was pretty cute to see all the toddlers gathered around grandpa in their bedroom reading books.

Brett got back Mother's Day afternoon while we were at church. He actually picked S up from nursery and brought her home to help make a fun sign for me. After dinner we went over to his parents for some family time too. It was pretty cute watching S play with her closest cousin in age on Brett's side. Empty the toy basket and turn it into a little wagon for this guy. So fun!

S and P

family pictures while Brett is gone

5.1.16

Brett was out of town again this week for 4 days. We sure do miss him while he's gone! I looked back through my phone and saw that I have a sum total of two pictures (at least the ones with people in them) for this week. S and I spent part of the week doing things to help family who were sick or needed a little something, visiting teaching, and doing lots of errands. We are feeling like we are getting back into the swing of things. 

I had bought tickets a few months ago to go to Women's Conference. I have gone for at least the past 8 years. It is something I have really grown to look forward to. I had a bit of a problem with who was going to take care of S because Brett didn't get home until the end of the third day. My sister had offered, but was diagnosed pneumonia and there was no way I could do that to her (despite her insisting). I am SO grateful for a good friend who was willing to have S for an incredibly long day! It was such a kind thing for her to do, and such a great opportunity for me. I have gone with my mom most years. We always stay for the big service activity, dinner, and concert. This year we participated in helping to make 350,000+ meals for local people in need.  

making meals

Saturday we spent time getting things from our home study list done. I think there are about 5-6 different items that she put on a punch list for us to complete to be able to have kids placed in our home. We officially have everything done with the exception of window well covers, which we have talked to a seller for and hope to have by next week. 

We went out to dinner together Saturday. We opted for somewhere we hadn't been in a while, Red Robin. They have a pretty great kids menu (aka more than 3 items to choose from). After, we walked around the nearby shopping area. They had a popcorn store. S and I both have a weakness for popcorn. Brett...not so much, but he humors us. Looking at the prices there was no way I was paying for 2 kinds (even the smallest size), but we couldn't not get some with S there with us. We ended up letting her pick. It is super yummy, but not something we would splurge on on a regular basis. 

so happy with her confetti popcorn

And, of course, our post wouldn't be complete without our weekly family picture!

her silly face

and our little family

4.24.16

This week was a hard one to come back to to adjust to reality. We had scheduled a home study through Utah Foster Care for Friday. We already have a current home study done through a private individual that is effective through next month to be able to adopt, but the state does not accept private home studies and has a different list of qualifications that you have to meet...thus a list of stuff for me to work on this past week. Blah!

After we got home she wanted more braids in her hair. We spent about half an hour, and added quite a few. She loved them, and insisted on them being in until I insisted they were washed out on Saturday.

We spent some fun family time together playing memory...as per S's request. We played several rounds before she was done.

One of the many projects I conquered while Brett was at work to meet Foster Care home study approval. This was much more work that one would have thought, but we nice to get something handy done on my own :)

Yet another thing I installed this week to meet foster approval. All chemicals have to be in a locked cabinet. Our pesticides, spray paints, fertilizers, etc... all together in one place.

We had our home study on Friday, but a friend needed someone to watch her 2 yr old while she had something at school with her kids. I debated whether or not I really had time to, given all the stuff I needed to finish and have tidied up but have a really hard time saying no. So, we spent about 45 minutes at the park. S was such a good friend. She helped to distract him when he wanted his mom, insisted on being the one to push him in the swing, and just play. I wish so much that she could have that little play buddy all the time. I feel like we've been on this road for ages. I wish the time would pass faster in that regard.  

swinging

pushing her little buddy

I had to get a picture of this cutie in her Jamaica shirt and braids. I loved it! It was a little sad to take them out that afternoon. We got dressed that morning without checking the weather...it had been so nice since we got back that we were doing shorts and t-shirts. We were going on errands and I had to run back in the house to get sweaters because it was so cold. It was quite the little reality check for me. We had been so used to constant temps everyday that this drop was unexpected to us.

We have our usual Sunday family picture. S wanted to be the photographer. I love how she would turn the camera and frame Brett in. She also insisted on setting the timer and running to jump in. 

little photographer

just her

She was quite grumpy about not wanting to get in a family picture with all of us. So, I set the timer and ran to sit by Brett. She decided to be funny, and ran to jump into the picture. She found herself quite funny. I love the way it was captured!

We went over to see Nana and Papa on Sunday evening. We had S ride her bike to wear her out a bit. Before we left she played through the window with her littlest cousin. It's lots of fun to watch them together!

4.17.16

 I debated blogging about this because of the appearance of the cost of it from others, but ultimately decided to because this is us and our family and used as a family journal of sorts. We have been on vacation this past week. It has been SO great!! We tried to widdle down our options several months ago when we were trying to decide how to celebrate our ten years. Ultimately we decided on Jamaica, and we are SO glad we did! We were able to fly for just taxes and fees by using Brett's frequent fliers. We stayed 4 nights free at a Hilton using Brett's Hilton points, and paid for just 2 nights.

This place was pretty great. It was right on the ocean, all inclusive, kids under 5 stay free, free activities to do there as well as free water activities. Brett has enough time put in with Hilton from traveling that he is a diamond member, and got extra perks that way as well.

I was a bit nervous traveling that long and far with S, but was hopeful it would all be okay. We had lots of activities up our sleeves for her while traveling, and different fun snacks. All in all we felt pretty well prepared.

I jotted down this note in my phone when we were waiting for our first flight there from something S said. It went something like this...

Me: The people are going to call our name so we can get on the airplane.
S: But she doesn't know my name!!

She had a very valid point there.

checking our bags

our little traveler

walking to our gate with dad

watching the plane get ready

pre-boarding our first leg of the trip

our ride on a brand new plane

lunch break in Atlanta

sunset over Jamaica

first morning checking out our hotel

playing in the ocean

enjoying a pina coloda

Brett's favorite

fun swimming together

birds at lunch

ice cream every night

live music most nights

an alligator under the couch- this one startled her to begin with.

our afternoon at the beach

at the water park

swim up bar

playing together

paddle ball

swinging on the beach

our cabana for a day

view from our cabana

pool time

our little fish

enjoying the beach

finding "treasures"

I'm not sure who she learned that from...not me....I don't sunbathe.

Brett enjoying the ocean

lounging together

a fancy dinner together

getting her hair braided

playing the drums

grateful for the large brimmed hat we bought just before leaving

our view from dinner

Jamaican sunset

after our dinner on the beach

Miami Vice, my favorite drink this past week

sunset our last night

Brett and S

our family

our "pretty girl" as all the locals called her

inlet 

our hotel

last walk on the beach...

...and in the ocean

sunset

view from our room

This was our favorite server, Javahn. He really took to S and would look for us at each meal whether or not we were seated in his area. He was SO kind and friendly!

She insisted pushing the button each time, and by the end kind of got over her issue of elevators.

us just before leaving

the courtyard at our hotel

view from the entry balcony

S's alligator friend

our place for a week

the bus ride back to the airport

leaving Jamaica

sad to go

view from the plane

thank you Delta for all the free in-flight movies

greeting the plane for our last leg

getting a ride from dad around the airport

the things you do to keep a 3 yr old happy

our Salt Lake sunset from the plane