A new year begins

Today is Alexander's first day in the first grade. He walked all by himself. In the rain.

I am so proud and sad all at the same time!

Enjoying the last few days of Summer

This fall most of the children will be in school at least part of the time so we have been doing our best to enjoy the last days of summer. As a side note most of our yearly passes to places will be expiring as the summer does. Of course that means our days off (Owen works you know!) are spent like this:



and this:



and this:



With the return of fall I expect to find the return to regular blogging and a more regular sleep cycle. I also find that I am more creative when I feel time constraints. I have heard it said that that would make me a good professional crafter. I would love that....

I know you have said it before...

I know that you all have told me before that I dont owe you an explanation when I drop off the face of the world... but I still want to give you one.

I have been having a very hard time lately. Alexander has been gone in California with both his sets of grandparents since the 5th of July. I miss him terribly.

That is of course just the tip of the iceberg. Now add that to the fact that my marriage has been in serious danger of ending (I made plans to move out with the kids and go on without him!) which seems to have been resolved... but I have been fooled before...

Then add to that the fact that the Dr. told me that there is no medical reason that he can find that I should still be able to walk... and that that ability could change at any time if I am not careful...

Then add to that the fact that we are a family of 6 on one income and when Owen gets depressed he spends money we dont have on stuff we dont need... putting us around $1700 in the hole behind on our bills....

And what you get is a woman who wants to crawl into a hole and disappear for forever. I dont wanna die. I just want to disolve into the earth... Do you know what I mean or are you debating calling 911 for the safety of my children? (who I assure you are the one thing going really right for me! I get out of bed each day to care for them and make them as happy as possible!)

I am gonna try to be better for you guys though... You all got me through my PPD... and I am willing to bet that you could get me through this too, if I let you! Much love to all of you!

p.s. I have most of the rest of my trip to Utah written up and just havent posted it yet. I feel like a slacker!

Then there was a Saturday...

Saturday ended up as a day of rest... sort of. We sat around most of the day and then Poppa decided to take me out to see Tuacahn.... Which is a theater that shows everything from small productions to traveling Broadway plays. It is an outdoor venue, which I suppose could cause some issues... but I thought it was really awesome.

This is the view from the back of the theater.



This is the view of the whole theater.



While we were walking around we found two of those boards that have the holes cut out for you to put your head through.





If you are thinking that I look a bit strained in the second picture... that is because I am holding Liam down at the bottom and trying to keep my head in the hole!

As we were leaving we noticed some people struggling with a table. Poppa offered to help and then when he was done a lady asked him if we would like to go to the nights show of the BYU International Dance group and Band thingy... We took the tickets to be nice. Then we went and checked and realized that the seats were actually in a really awesome place. SO we headed out to head home and get ready to go back out there that evening.



If you know me at all you know how much this picture of Devon reminds me of me. It is awesome to know that even though we just met and have spent our whole lives apart Devon and I share a lot of traits. Like the need to walk on the edges of water fountains...

The view as you are driving away from the theater is really amazing too.



We raced back home and had a light snack. We got dressed a little nicer and somehow managed to convince Chase to come along.

I would love to show you pictures of the dancing itself.... but I wasn't allowed to use my camera at all once I walked into the theater. Not even to take a picture of us all before the show!

At intermission we realized that the rest of the show was pretty much going to be the story of Mormonism in dance and some folk dancing from countries that I had no real knowledge of other than to know that they exist. We decided to leave at that point since it looked like Liam might be getting a little sleepy. Of course we couldn't help but take one more picture of the three siblings (maybe one day I will figure out how to get one of all four of us!)



We ended our night by going and having a burger at this place that was really good... but just not the same as In 'n Out.... I am not complaining... Just pointing it out...

Then it was off to the house and sleep.

A message from Liam.

cxcb jhbg bb uyuuu0-6-0cdo4 6l HJ(*87lcpo90p----------------------------------------------------sdwer222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222223anJ"fgvbrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttttttttttttt

So then....

The plane ride was mostly uneventful. We took off almost a half an hour early. Liam didn't fuss or anything! So, of course, right as I was settling into the flight being uneventful Liam threw up all over me. In all my planing to be sure I had plenty of diapers for the trip it had never occurred to me to be sure we each had a change of clothes in the carry on bags! The person sitting next to me (in first class!) slept through the whole thing, which I suppose is good. The flight attendant did her best to help me get Liam and myself cleaned up. Then as soon as the mess was cleaned Liam fell asleep and remained asleep until it was time to land.

The plane landed and we rode a tram to the baggage claim area. As we got to the bottom the escalator going to baggage claim I saw someone I thought I recognized from behind. And I was right. Poppa turned around and it was smiles and hugs all around. We grabbed my bags and Liam's carseat and headed out to the truck.

The two hour drive from the Vegas airport to St. George was mellow. We chatted and Liam slept.

When we got to the house I met Sandy, Lisa's mom, Lisa and Tink.



Tink HATED Liam and barked at him the entire weekend. By the time we left she had tried to bite him!

Anyways. After dropping off my stuff and changing Liam we went out to buy a pack n play for Liam to sleep in and some tennis shoes for me to wear while there. ( I only brought flip flops.)

When we were done with the shopping we headed back to the house and were excited to find that Devon, my 10 year old half sister, and Chase , my 19 year old half brother, were home from school. More hugging and smiling ensued.

That afternoon there was a carnival at Devon's school that Lisa had been in charge of. We all went to the carnival and had lots of fun.

Devon took Liam down a bouncy slide.



We went and had his hair sprayed green like the other kids.



Liam spent time bonding with his new Grandma Lisa.



Chase and Devon had a silly string fight.



Liam spent the rest of the time we were there switching off between his Grandpa and his Uncle Chase.





Then we all headed back to the house and just kinda hung out till it was time to go to dinner. We went to an burger place and I gotta say their burgers were good. Not In-n-Out good.... but good.

After dinner Chase went and hung out with his friends and the rest of us relaxed watching some tv and then headed to bed.

The Most Important Flight.

I did it again. I dropped a bomb and then forgot to come back and do damage control.

So here are the details. On January 6th my brother, Orion, called me and said "you are never going to believe this. I just got a friend request from a kid named Chase St. Thomas who claimed to be our half brother and a message from Richard stating that Chase is in fact our brother and that they will not push contact on us, but that things were not as they seemed and Chase had been waiting his whole life to meet us."

As soon as I stopped freaking out a little I hopped right on to facebook and looked them up. I sent both of them a message asking if they had sent my brother a message, cause if they had... I was the sister of Orion and that made me the daughter/sister they were looking for.

About a half an hour later I was chatting with both Chase in Utah and Richard on the island he was on for work.

Over the course of the next few months I spent every available waking moment talking to Richard. By the end of January I was calling him Poppa like I had when I was a little girl.

I had everything a girl could wish for. I had more family. Family that had always wanted me. Family that, when told I was going to be moving in with them cause my mom couldn't handle living with me anymore, moved things around in their house as fast as they could so I would have a room ready and waiting for me when I got there. Family that waited and waited for me to show up.

I never came.

Now that has changed. I don't know if you know this about me but I have an amazing ability to accept, forgive and adapt. I don't hold grudges. I can't. I have lived through to much. So I decided that whether or not Poppa's story was true (and as it turns out large chucks of it are...) or my moms story she had always told us was true (as it turns out large chunks of it were incorrect.) I was going to let it all go and just love the people God had put in my life to love me.

As the time drew closer and closer for Poppa to come home from the job he was working overseas, he and I began to plan a way that I would be able to come down to Utah to meet my new family face to face. Several attempted plans fell through. Finally it was decided that I would come down the weekend after Easter first thing friday morning and that I would return that Monday. Plans were finalized. Plane tickets were purchased.

This was it. I was going to meet the Step-mom I had a vague idea about. I was going to meet the brother and sister I had no idea existed until January 6th. (yes technically they are half brother and sister, but so is Rachel and that has never mattered so why should this?)

Now all I had to do was get on a plane with Liam (who had to come since he is still nursing). Our bag was packed. We were ready. Owen and the kids dropped me off at Sea-Tac and helped us check in our luggage. We went through the security checkpoint and rode the tram out to the plane. When we got to the terminal the plane was already boarding, so we quickly got on board. I sent out a picture message letting everyone know that we were on the plane and that the doors were closing. Poppa sent back that he was hopping in his vehicle and heading south to get me.

I was committed. No going back now...

So you remember when I said....

So do you remember when I said that something life changing had happened to me and I didn't tell you what it was? If you said no, here. Go ahead and look. I'll wait.

Ok. So I told you that something life changing had happened and then guess what? I never told you!

And then I finally realized I never told you and stated the obvious. Go me.

Well now I am ready to tell you what happened. You ready? Really? Are you sure??????




This is what happened. I gained an entire family. Want to know the best part? I am related to them by blood... that man not in the cap and gown??? Yeah. He is my biological father. The one I thought abandoned me.

I think I will let you chew on that for just a minute while I prepare the post about going to visit them right after Easter.

Oh! Hello!

I have missed you all. We had to shut our internet down for a while. It was that or our phones. We decided I could live without the internet for a month. But now I am back and have stuff to share!

First I will share Easter.

As is standard to our life in the military, Owen missed the majority of yet another Easter!. This time he had training all weekend. He was supposed to be home by noon.... but as is almost always the case with the Army some bonehead ruined the fun for everyone else!




Just as we decided we couldn't wait to start the fun any longer, Owen called and said it was time to come get him. We waited till the first set of eggs was ready to come out of the dye.



Mikaela's favorite colors were the "girly ones" and green.



Alexander stuck to what I like to call the "midnight colors" Deep purple, deep blue and the dark turquoise blue.



Aeddon wanted the bright colors. The orange, yellow and cyan blue.



Liam was a little to young to dye eggs and just sat there happily watching the whole affair!



As soon as the eggs were all dyed Owen went very quickly out and hid half of them for the kids to find. 6 each for the older kids. We had to work fast and look fast for two reasons. Reason number 1 is that it was about to be dark. Reason number 2 is that it was about to start pouring with rain!








After the hunt we did baskets. We don't do the Easter bunny here. We told the kids it is because the Easter bunny cant get on post cause he doesn't have the security clearance!

After that we did a relatively normal dinner followed by some strawberry shortcake made with angel food cake.



Liam LOVED the angel food cake!

That was pretty much the adventure that was our Easter!

I never thought I would

I never though I would spend so much on diapers... but I did anyways. I just dropped exactly $199.00 on "old style" Kissaluvs size 2 diapers for Liam.



See the problem was that we were having nothing but issues with Liam and prefolds with Snappis. If I didn't stretch the Snappi as hard as I could he would leak poop all over his longies. If I did stretch it as far as I could he would "stick" to the fabric of the prefold and when I would remove his diaper I would also take enough skin to cause him to bleed.

It was almost enough for us to give up... if it wasn't for the fact that he cant wear disposables cause of skin sensitivity.

So since they were on sale cause they are being discontinued in this style (nothing wrong with them, they just redid them a little) I got them for a lot less money. This size fits from a 20lbs child to a 40lbs child... so we should be good now.

I bought 20.



Owen liked them. He was the most excited I have ever seen him about diapers... which is to say that he asked if I was happy and I said I was so he said he like them.



Liam liked them too.....

And then it happened...



First I hugged them.



Then I threw them.



Then we had a diaper fight with them.



Even Liam tried to throw one!



And that was that. A few minutes later we lost the light so we scooped up the new diapers and I washed them. We have been using them since last night and I have already noticed the difference. They are far more absorbent and not once has my little Liam bled.

Money well spent.