Kevin

Chris' brother, Kevin, came to visit last weekend.  He and his family are embarking on an amazing journey to Thailand for the next two to three years.  (Oh yeah, you can bet we'll be going to visit!)  We are grateful that he sacrificed a weekend with his family to come for a visit.  He arrived on Friday morning (Feb. 22) with Chris.  Chris planned his schedule to fly in close to Kevin's arrival time so that they could home from the airport together.  They arrived just as I was coming back from volunteering at the school around 10 am.  Chris had a couple of hours yet to work, so Kevin got settled in, checked his email, talked to his wife, and vegged.

Chris, Kevin, and I headed out for the evening and left Amy home to watch her sisters (she owes me lots of money so there's lots of babysitting in her future!).  Chris, Kevin, and I had dinner at Hacienda Colorado.  Mmmmm, my favorite.  Chris and Kevin are completely different, yet cut from the same cloth in their goodness.  We enjoyed our conversation over dinner and weren't in too much of a hurry to get back home.  Once we did arrive home, we played a rousing game of "Apples to Apples" with the girls.

Saturday morning was full of the normal chores, plus a few extras because Kevin was here.  He and Chris lifted the glass off the breakfast table so that I could clean out the crumbs and fingerprints that I have tried to ignore for the past year!  Thank you both.  Chris and Kevin lifted the heavy desk upstairs from Chris' office so that I wouldn't have to and completed a variety of projects around the house.  Kevin even fixed our music stand on the piano.

We decided to take Kevin to Boulder to go hiking up by the Flatirons.  Coming from Texas, he was breathing a little heavy in the Colorado altitude and feeling rather chilly.  The girls bundled up--some more than others--and we headed up the mountain.  Once we got going, some of the layers began coming off and zippers were unzipped.

Amy nailed Chris.

Chris and Kevin hiked further up a trail while I waited with the girls.  Misha and Kristen played in the snow while Amy hoped to find a battery and a gum wrapper.  She wanted to start a fire.  She likes to watch crazy survival shows.  No battery.  No gum wrapper.  No fire.  She did however express herself in the snow.

Following our hike, we found a frozen yogurt shop.  Always an appreciated stop.  We checked out REI and then headed home on a scenic route.  We started to take note that perhaps we were in for a major snow storm on Sunday.

After getting some bread in the oven (I started it late on Saturday evening), I headed downstairs to check on the brothers.  I quietly chuckled and headed back upstairs to get my camera.

Chris had meetings Sunday morning and left just as it was starting to snow.  It was coming down in earnest--our first substantial storm of the season.  I will admit that I was a little nervous thinking about driving to church.  Chris called around 8 am and asked if I wanted him to come home and drive us back in.  I was relieved that he offered.  He also wanted to get his little Acura home before the roads got any worse.

The Pilot had no problem navigating in the snow, though we grumbled a little that we had so far to drive to church.  As we made it to church and got settled, it was announced that church would be cancelled after the Sacrament.  Whew.  Though we still had to drive home.  Chris helped an older lady get situated in her car while Kevin tried to keep the sidewalk shoveled.  It was a losing battle.  We finally made it home around 10:30 am.  I worked on Sunday dinner and dessert.  It was lovely as Kevin sat down at the piano and began to play.  He was so kind to play for Kristen as she sang along.  I sang along in the kitchen...  Thailand is altogether to far away.  We would love it if Kevin and his family lived closer.

We had a nice relaxing day though the boys were worrying about flights as they were both flying out that evening.  Chris' original flight was cancelled, though he was able to make another reservation.  We slept, we rested, we played.  Though the snow was still coming down a bit, Chris headed outside to shovel.  Misha helped a little bit but ended up playing in the snow with Kristen.

We said goodbye to Chris and Kevin around 6:30 pm.  They made it to the airport safely.  Kevin's flight was delayed, and I think it was after 3 am his time when he finally made it home.  Chris flew in to LA but had to find his way back up to Burbank.  It was a late night for him as well.

Helpers

I love this picture of my girls helping make dinner the other night.  So love having older girls.

Spring Cleaning

I am not a fan of the effort required to Spring clean a house.  Especially the windows in my house.  Here's a before and after shot (and still I can't get all of that dirt out).  My fingers are raw from reaching into narrow spaces to clean out dirt.  Blasted windows.  Who designed these windows?  They are awful.  And even after all the cleaning, the wind blows, and I check back and there's more dirt.

I love them feeling of a clean house though.  I have spent time cleaning windows, base boards, doors, cabinet fronts, etc.  Amy bargained some new clothes and offered to clean my laundry room.  Her next bargaining point garnered her the opportunity to vacuum the dirt from the basement windows.

2nd Grade Showcase

The showcase nights at the elementary school have gotten so much better in the past years.  The music teacher, though not my favorite, seems to be blossoming more in her position.  I like how each class has their own showcase and that there is a theme and not just a bunch of random songs.

The theme this year for Kristen's class was "Under the Sea".  I especially liked the yellow submarine song, and it was obvious that the kids were really enthusiastic about it as well.  Kristen was given the role of introducing the final song and was outstanding--speaking slowly and clearly.  She planned out her outfit and hairdo for the evening and looked beautiful.

Chris was traveling, actually in Portland, and was visiting with his parents.  The amazingness of technology allowed Chris and his parents to have a seat close to the action.  It was kind of funny as Misha connected with Chris via Facetime, (I was holding the camera so Misha was kind enough to come along and hold my iPad for the whole performance) there was a collective "Ahhhhhh" from those surrounding us when they realized that a dad was attending his child's performance via an iPad. 

Game Changer

There are days when you wake up and begin your day and somewhere during the course of the day, something happens.  It is a big something, and it suddenly catapults your day into a "game changer" kind of day?  Game changer day?  Yep, a day that changes the direction you are currently headed and points you down a new path.

We had one of those.  It was a typical Saturday, and we were once again pushing the girls to get their chores done.  It was the Saturday (January 26) following my birthday and since Chris had been traveling on my birthday (with my blessing), Kristen felt as though she wanted to plan a party.  Chris had originally pooh-poohed the idea, not realizing that Kristen's heart was already in it.  He relented and even helped the girls pick out some decorations.  At Walmart.  I picked up some last-minute groceries for the upcoming Sunday with strict instructions to stay in the grocery area and avoid looking at my daughters' basket.  Done.

So back to Saturday, the 26th.  I knew something was up with whispering girls, but I went along with Chris when he offered to take me to the grocery store after he dropped off his dry cleaning.  He had also planned to just stop by Pelican Shores, a housing development on a lake just a couple miles from our house.  One of the agents selling the property had suggested that the lots were discounted for a time and that we should come and check it out.  We had no intention of making any changes to the status quo of our lives--we were simply out giving the girls some time to prepare a family celebration.  Eric, the agent, wasn't at the sales office when we arrived, but another girl there gave us some information and the gate code to go and check out the lots in question on the North lake.

Pelican Shores North is a small subdivision of 14 homes on its own lake.  Some of the properties are right on the lake while some of the properties have an allotted beach area.  We drove to the end of the street and parked.  Chris and I both climbed out of the Pilot, and while taking in the expansive view of the mountains, the lake, and the river, said a simultaneous, "Wow."  And not long after that we both said, "We should live here."  That was it. Saturday morning when we woke up, the thought of moving was nowhere on our radar.  Now, it was front and center.

But let me also interject, we have felt "unsettled" for perhaps two years now.  I'd get impressions that we were going to move, talk about it with Chris, and we'd both decide that we were happy where we were.  We didn't want to move.  So, we knew something was coming.  In fact, we'd intentionally pick some vacation spots with the intent to "check out" the area.  We really liked St. George even, but the lack of a large airport close by made us put it on hold--retirement perhaps.

So we called Eric and left a message on his cell phone.  We were at the property and all of a crazy sudden, we were interested.  We called his boss, Andrew, to see if he was around to answer questions and left a message with him.  We finally left to get some groceries because Kristen was texting Chris non-stop, "Are you done yet?", "Let us know when you are coming," blah de blah blah.  She likes to text.

While at King Soopers, Eric called back.  We planned to meet back at the property at 2 pm.  That gave us enough to time to go home, party, and leave again.  We told the girls we had an appointment at 2 pm without telling them what it was.  We didn't want them to get too excited at this point.  And by excited I mean, we had found out that their friends were also moving to the lake.  There was going to be a swimming pool at the lake.  Yeah, we didn't want to tell them yet.

We met Eric at the property.  Andrew was there with his family.  I think maybe Chris and I were feeling that maybe our initial impressions were a little out of whack.  Move?  And it was only three miles away from our current house?  Crazy.  And yet, there was this impression to explore this option.  So we spent some time at the property and returned home after expressing an interest in Lot #2.  Andrew had suddenly had a lot of interest in the property so he said we would be put on the list.  Well, shoot.

We returned home and decided to tell the girls.  In fact, we loaded every one in to the Pilot and drove back again to the property.  After that, there was no convincing needed.  The lake, the river, the possibilities for exploration.  They were excited.  And then we told them that their friends were also moving to the lake.  And that there was a planned swimming pool.  Over. the. moon. excited.

We all went home feeling excited.  We had the weekend to mull over this momentous decision and Monday morning, we pulled all of our financial information together to get a pre-approval.  We waited.  Andrew asked about our lot preference since he still had a lot of interest, and we told him our first choice was lot 2, then 3, and as a last resort, 4.  We didn't really want 4.

We were waiting to hear back on the finances, and during that time, Andrew began to put in place a private group on Facebook where we could pass information back and forth about the property.  We thought that perhaps the finance news was great since Andrew was moving forward, but we still weren't sure.

During this time, I was losing sleep.  Serious amounts of sleep.  I would wake up at 4 am, 3:30 am, one night at 2:30 am, and I wasn't able to go back to sleep.  Once I was awake, my brain turned on to full-speed, and I was up.  I took advantage of that time and began making lists.  "I Want" lists.  I scoured Pinterest for ideas, Houzz.com, and forums related to what people loved about their homes, what things they wish they'd done, and things they would avoid.  My list grew; I wasn't sleeping.  Chris, as he was wont to do, began his own kind of lists.  Lists of how much this new house would cost and lists about monthly payments.  Different lists, common purpose.

One week later, it was Saturday before Fast Sunday (a day that we abstain from eating and focus on prayer to seek after answers).  We decided to make a trek back to the property once again.  We hadn't had a definitive decision on which lot we would get or if we qualified financially.  The girls had fun exploring. Amy even got to drive around the lake.  Misha was mad that she didn't get to drive around the lake.  We left a message with Andrew saying that we thought maybe we wanted to change our first choice to Lot #3. 

This will be just beyond our property line.

Kristen is not eight yet, but I suggested to all of my children that they each fast to find out if this was the right decision to make.  It was coming at us quickly, and each one of us needed to have a positive confirmation.  Kristen even agreed to fast.  We fasted for other things that would help facilitate this huge jump for us.  We fasted that we would get Lot #3.  Our fast was a very positive experience.  Amy mentioned that she didn't even feel hungry.

Monday morning, I attended my institute class at the 11th Avenue LDS church building in Longmont.  Eric, the realtor, attended this class as well.  As the class concluded, he asked how we were feeling about buying a new house.  I mentioned that if we knew about the financing and whether or not we had been approved, we'd begin to feel as though we could move forward.  "You haven't heard yet?"  Was his response.  He was sure that we had approval.  The lot assignment was still undecided.  Apparently one of the investors in the property was making a decision on whether or not he wanted a lot.

Sure enough, we received a confirmation email later in the day on Monday telling us that we qualified for even more than we wanted to spend.  Now it seemed real.  That was a relief.  On Tuesday, Andrew let us know that we would be getting Lot #2.  On Wednesday, he changed it to Lot #3.  Still sleepness nights for me; there was always something to think about.

We exchanged information on Facebook--wants, wishes, needs, likes, dislikes.  We had begun to pick out favorite elevation styles, kitchens, entries, mud rooms, bed rooms, bathrooms, etc., and of course, I posted my list.  Kyle, the architect, posted a hand-drawn floor plan on Friday.  It was a starting point and from there we added more to our list.  Chris was out of town so we spent time on the phone and on facetime looking through my Ideabooks on Houzz.com as well as looking for ideas that matched both of our tastes.  We became greater fans of Evernote as a means to catalog our information.

On Friday, Chris and I, drove to Pelican Shores for our first meeting with Kyle.  It was informative for all as we began to narrow done and hone in our style.  We walked the lot to determine house placement.  We showed them the things we like and dislike about our current home.  It was overwhelming and exciting all at once.  The process continues, and it hasn't been exactly smooth.  Financially this is a jump for us.  Chris stresses about it.  I continue to work on plans and hope that we are making decisions that will work for how we live as a family as well as decisions that will bring about a beautiful result.

President's Day

I would guess that my kids would say that it was another boring holiday.  Amy spent the night at a friend's house, but I told her I was picking her up at 9:30 am.  I know, boring.  We were Spring cleaning, and I didn't want her to miss out on ANY of the fun.  She didn't.  We spent most of the morning cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.  Contrary to popular opinion, it isn't my favorite thing to do either, but I love a clean house more.

We headed out in the afternoon to run errands, pick up some gifts for our Philippines trip, look for shorts (don't worry, there aren't many out yet), and shop with Amy.  I must admit, I'm not looking forward to future shopping trips with her.  These trips are usually filled with "I hate these stupid rules" comments, and a little pouting and stomping.  Not fun.  News flash girls:  the rules aren't going to change.  I'm not going to let you buy shorter shorts or dresses or shirts.  You will be covered.  It is called modesty.  And when it comes to being the keeper of the rules, I am going to do my darnedest to have modest girls.  Deal with it.

K, rant over.

Banister

Kristen discovered sliding down the banister.  Granted she doesn't get much of a run off of it since we have stacked stairs--a short run up, a landing, another short run.  Even so, I have found her in this position a couple of times.  She has a bit of a hard time getting off, and I often hear, "Help. Help."

Sleeping Bag

Chris purchased Misha a new sleeping bag at Costco.  She was quick to unroll it once we arrived home.  It was pretty cool, even for a mummy bag, and had a built-in, blow-up pillow, a pocket, and zippered air holes.  Pretty cool.  She decided to sleep in it on her bedroom floor.  "Uhhh, you can sleep in it just as well on your bed you know?"  I checked on her before going to bed and she was snug as a bug in a... sleeping bag.  When I checked on her again in the middle of the night, the sleeping bag had been discarded to the floor, and Misha was sleeping peacefully under her blankets.

Valentine's Day

Kristen had a Valentine's Day party at school and pleaded with me to come.  I told her maybe.  Honestly, I am glad that my daughters still want me involved in their lives.  I planned to go.  Her party was held after lunch; the students were able to exchange Valentines, eat treats, and have a bit of a break from their normal school day.

I remember when I was in elementary school.  We made elaborate Valentine boxes for our exchanged cards.  My girls have never attended a school where that was done.  They missed out on a memory. Anyway, I headed over to the school with my camera thinking that the room would be packed with other moms/parents.  Nope.  Just me and the mom who planned the treats.  I stayed long enough to take pictures, receive a Valentine from a cute little boy named Jordan, and give lots of hugs to Kristen.  Different kinds of memories for my girls.

Baby Lydia

My friend Rachael asked if I would come and take some pictures of her new arrival, who just happened to be born on my birthday!  I told Rachael sure, but first gave her the name of some very talented professionals who would do a much better job than I, in my amateur-ness, could do.  She was okay with me.  The first time we arranged to meet, Kristen was home sick from school.  We put it off until Wednesday.  Misha and Amy were both home from school.

I wasn't sick, so instead of coming here, I went to Rachael's home.  We got some cute pictures.  They need to be touched up.  I'm still learning.

Lydia was wide awake and not very happy some of the time.

Mom to the rescue.

Creative

Kristen made fish-kabobs.

Celebrating Some More

Chris was traveling on my birthday and Kristen really wanted to plan a party for me.  He told her that they would plan something for the weekend after he got home.  She seemed okay with that.  I knew something was afoot, they didn't try to hide it when Chris took the girls to the store to get party decorations.  They were happy to plan and I am happy to pampered and surprised.  Chris took me to run some errands on Saturday the 26th while the girls started to decorate.

Kristen probably texted Chris ten times in two minutes.  Texts such as, "When are you coming home?" and "Let us know when you are on your way home."  We finally arrived home to their beautiful decorations and yummy chocolate fondue. 

Happy Birthday to Me

Chris knew that he would need to travel on my birthday.  He made sure I was okay with it before he booked his flight.  I figured we would celebrate on the weekend anyway, and that it would be a fairly normal day anyway.  I was okay with it.

It was a normal day.  Get the two older girls out the door by 7:20 am.  Wake up Kristen.  Talk briefly with Chris.  Scoot Kristen out the door at 8:45 am.  Can't say that  I minded the peace and quiet of the rest of the day nor all of the well wishes on Facebook.

My Visiting Teaching appointment was cancelled due to someone else's labor pains, but I was thrilled that two friends had their babies yesterday.  It's a good birth date.

After the girls were all home from school, and Kristen was rubbing my feet, the doorbell rang.  There stood our Home Teacher, Craig Copple, with two dozen roses.  My husband had made arrangements for Craig to pick them and deliver them.  What a thoughtful husband.  I know that it was a time crunch for Craig to fit the delivery in to his busy day, but I sure appreciate that he did.  The roses were beautiful.  Kristen even snagged one for her bedroom.

Chris' present to me had not arrived yesterday, but he wrote me a lovely note describing his gift.  A hardcover book of my blog--the first four years.  Turns out it is 634, 8 1/2 x 11 pages.  What an amazing and thoughtful gift.  My in-laws also contributed to the gift as well.  Chris had downloaded the pdf version of the book onto my kindle app without me knowing so that I could check it out if the hard copy hadn't arrived yet.  YOU can actually buy the book if you are so inclined.

This is part of his note to me:  "For a long time, I've wanted to see your writing published; you have such a talent for it, and those who read it invariably say the same thing.  So as a somewhat unilateral starting point, I decided that your blog was a worthy place to begin.  Your first 4+ years are published in a single volume and available for anyone to purchase.  A hard copy is in the mail now and should be here within the next couple days, but I'm sorry it didn't get here in time.  I misestimated how long it would take to get printed.  There's also a soft copy on your iPad in Kindle.

"Hopefully you can take some time to go back and reread your writing, and especially to remember all the fun times we've shared over these last years.  We have a marvelous life together and I look forward to all that is yet in store for us.  You are an amazing mother and companion, and I thank Heavenly Father daily for having you in my life."

What an amazing husband and totally thoughtful gift.  I drove Amy into Young Women's last night and spent an hour and a half reading my blog pdf.  So many fun things to remember and so grateful that I have kept a record.  It is a priceless treasure.

Jo's Book

Philippines Preparations

 We are going to the Philippines.  The girls have been pretty thrilled with the prospect.  That is until Monday.  It was MLK Jr. Day and they had the day off from school.  Chris was home as well until later in the afternoon when he was flying to SLC.  We didn't really have anything fun planned for the day and decided in the afternoon to go to the library and then do some geocaching.  We found three different caches.  Our last geocache was next to Harney Park, so we let the girls expend a little energy. 

Chris and I knew all along that we were taking the girls to the medical center around 3:30 to get shots for traveling overseas.  We didn't tell them.  Chris mentioned that we had an appointment at 3:30 and after that we could go and get ice cream.  My kids never seem to catch on to the slyness of their parents.  Ice cream?  And that's after we go do something that related to the Philippines?  Oh well, it is so much better that they don't know too far in advance.  As it was, Chris didn't tell them what our "appointment" was until we were all in the car and it was moving toward the medical center.  Oh the groans and tears.

When I talked to the nurse earlier in the day, she said that she would have to order in one of the vaccinations so I didn't think Kristen would be getting a shot, but I wasn't positive.  As Amy so succinctly stated, "Mom can't promise anything at the doctor's office anymore."  When Kristen found out she might not be getting a shot she went from almost bursting in to tears to grinning ear to ear at her sisters in less than 1/2 a second.

We waited in the waiting area for half an hour among all the sickies.  Yuck.  As we were finally shown back to a room, Karen, the nurse, happily announced that she had been able to get the vaccinations in after all.  Happy day!  Kristen WAS getting a shot.  Oh the tears.  Chris sat with her on his lap, I held one of her arms, and Amy helped with the other.  Poor girl.  Poor all of us.  Kristen got one shot, and the rest of got one in each arm.  AND Chris and I have to return next week and then two weeks after that.  BOOOOO.

The girls had pretty sore arms all night long and well in to the next day.  They each fell asleep with a rice warmer on their arms.

They did get their ice cream though.  Chris had to leave for the airport around 4:45.  I took the girls in to town to get a new pair of jeans for Amy.  We grabbed a quick (non-french fry) dinner at Wendy's.  I love that they have baked potatoes.  And then we went across town to Menchies for frozen yogurt and self-serve toppings.  My kids love those places and ALWAYS go crazy with the toppings. 

Color Me Greek

...Not my kids though, they don't branch out very well.  We went out for dinner on Saturday night.  It was after a baptism and Misha had opted to stay home, so we went home to get her and then came back in to Longmont.   I chose Petra for my birthday dinner.  It took forever for them just to print some new kids menus.  I'm guessing they don't get kids coming in very often.  Kristen didn't like any of the offerings on the kids menu and played it safe with a hot dog.

As we waited, a beautiful young women began to belly dance.  Kristen was completely enthralled with watching her.  Not so completely however, that she missed the arrival of her "hot dog".  The hot dog consisted of ground meat mixed with spices and onions.  I don't think Kristen ate a bite of it.  She was totally unimpressed.  Commence whining.  She had some pita bread but wouldn't even try the hummus.  Amy and Misha both had a dab of hummus on their french fries.  Pathetic.

The owner, Abe, came to our table and at one point and asked if anyone wanted to learn how to belly dance.  Kristen had been so enthralled, I thought for sure she would love to.  I pointed at her.  She nodded her head and said "yes" she wanted to learn.  As Abe walked away, she fearfully started crying and saying, "I don't want to.  Tell him I don't want to."  We didn't get a chance to tell Abe that she didn't want to before he returned and pulled Kristen on to the dance floor where the belly dance girl began to give instruction.  He then returned to our table and grabbed Amy and Misha before they knew what was going on.  We did happen to get this all on video, but I'll refrain from embarrassing them any more.  The older two quickly returned to their seats.

Chris handed me a $5 bill and I snuck up and slipped the bill into the waistband of Kristen's skirt.  She was such a good sport and enjoyed herself after all.  When the belly dancer came to our table in her next set, she put out her hand for Kristen to join her.  I totally embarrassed my older two when I got up to join Kristen.  Amy and Misha left to visit the bathroom.  Apparently there's a max to the embarrassment they can stand.  Kristen, on the other hand, loved me all the more for it.

My Dad Went to...

Des Moines.   And all he brought back for me was....BACON.  Bacon-flavored lip balm to be exact.

New Looks

Misha and Kristen received a fun package in the mail.  At least they think the glasses are pretty cool for now.  They are mostly for reading and computer work, but they choose to wear them all of the time.  I think they look pretty stylish.

Rockets

Chris gave Misha some rockets for Christmas. They worked on assembling them together, and on a very cold afternoon, we headed over to the empty lots by the school to set them off. We are kind of a rag tag bunch in our comfy clothes.

And here's Kristen as the cheerleader.

The first rocket worked, the second bigger one was an epic fail. Even after I changed my camera to continuous shooting, it just sat there on the launching pad. Back to the drawing board--but hey, that's the fun of rockets, right?

Crazy Fun

You know your kids are ready to go back to school when your oldest daughter lets her younger sister apply makeup to her face while the younger sister is blindfolded!

A Gift from the Heart

My parents began planning their gift to the granddaughters early in 2012.  In fact, we brought the girls' presents home with us last May and they sat in our closet until early December when I wrapped them.

My father, who is a skilled craftsman, made all eight of his granddaughters a jewelry box this year.  (The grandsons get a handcrafted gift next year.)  I'll admit, I peaked in to one of the boxes before I wrapped them and was amazed at the beauty and thoughtfulness of such a gift.  My father had made me a jewelry box when I was a teenager, and these boxes were similar to mine.  Each jewelry box is filled with a velvet lining in a color that matches the girls' favorite color.  My girls will treasure these forever.