The home stretch (May 2018)

Backing WAY up to May:

Hyrum had been gone for about 3 months, and we were starting to get anxious for his return.  We spent the month of may trying to keep ourselves busy, and enjoy the last full month in Colorado.  (It was also the last month of school for the kids.)  I was initially just going to omit all these pictures from my blog, but when I went back to look at them, the kids look SO SMALL.  Too cute to leave out. 

I bought a new phone in May (Pixel 2, I love it) as a late birthday present, and it has these Star Wars 'stickers' you an put in photos.  They move around, and the kids had a blast taking pictures 'with' them.  (So did my Primary class of 7-yr-old boys).

May may have been our Month of Adventures.  We heard of a new diner/soda shop in town, so I took the kids to try it.  We sat up at the counter and ordered a house-made flavored soda.  The lady kept re-filling their little cups with different flavors so they could try several.  These soda-lovers had a blast.  I surprisingly ended up drinking most of the milk shake by myself. 

Afterwards, we headed down the road to Garden of the Gods.  It was probably our last visit there.  It's just so beautiful!  Especially on warm, sunny days.  It's a strange feeling to be out adventuring, with absolutely no where else to be.  No dinner to make, no one waiting for you at home, no other plans or to-do's for the day.  Just wandering.  Everyone took turns in the stroller, and Mila insisted on 'pushing' for a while.  They I caught the two girls spontaneously holding each others hand. 

It was great fun, but if I remember correctly, it ended in tears with me hauling the stroller in one hand (folded up) and dragging one or two children with the other hand, all the way back to the car.  Such is life.

A different day, Chik-fil-et held an event for kids.  (We had the best Chik-fil-et!)  There were bounce houses and cookie decorating.  All free. 

Tiago's school did their end-of-year field day, and invited parents to come.  It was fun to give him all the attention, and see him in this environment he'd grown so comfortable in.  

On the girls' last day of pre-school (they went T/Th for 3 hours) they had a water party outside, and parents were also invited.  They mostly played by themselves, which is a perk of having a built in best-friend. Their teacher was always telling me how they defended each other (especially Siena) when other kids were trying to mess with them.

Tiago's class did a final evening event when the kids sang songs they'd been working on.  Contrary to Tiago's shy nature, he was quite excited to perform.  He'd been singing the songs around the house for weeks so we were all familiar with them.  He wasn't super enthusiastic, but he sang in front of everyone.  Here, his hand is on his head like a great white shark. 

This is a super random picture, but one day Siena looked in her closet and saw white dresses in the very back.  I told her those weren't dresses to wear, they were their baby blessing dresses.  But she insisted on seeing it, and it looked huge, so I let her try it on.  And it kind of fit!  She truly thought she was an angel.  

So that got me thinking... this wasn't the dress she wore when she was blessed!  I realized it was a third dress my mom made after-the-fact out of my wedding veil.  And in the meantime, I'd given back Siena's real blessing dress thinking it was an 'extra'.  Yikes.  We sorted it all out: Siena's real (smaller) dress now hangs in the back of her closet, and some future giant baby is all set with a 2T dress.  

I took the kids out one afternoon for frozen yogurt.  It's always hit or miss with what treats (food in general) my kids will actually eat, but I didn't mind eating any leftovers.  This is such a Siena face!

The whole time I lived in Colorado, I had been meaning to go visit Emily, one of my college roommates, who lived an hour north of me.  I hadn't seen her since moving away from Provo.  We finally made it happen!  And my friend (and same-time roommate) Jennifer was able to make it, too.  She lives just a little farther north.  I've seen Jennifer multiple times, but it was SO FUN to all be together for a few hours, as if no time had passed.  (It's been about 10 years since we were all together!)  I drove home feeling so filled, and happy to have good people in my life even if I don't se them often.  Good thing I was in such a good mood, because a rock hit my windshield and left me with a huge crack that was a bit of a headache to get replaced.

So that was May 2018!  Hyrum came home just after mid-night on the 26th, and it was all hands on deck getting ready to move in June.  

Breckinridge, Colorado

The first weekend of December we had an unexpected weekend in Breckinridge, Colorado--unexpected because we put our names down on a list a few months ago for an Army marriage retreat and didn't know we were actually going until a few days before we left.  And beyond knowing we were going, we didn't have many details.  But it was a great weekend!  With a few mishaps.

The first afternoon we had free to explore as a family.  We decided to take a (free!) gondola ride to the top of one of the ski mountains.  The kids loved it, even though it was freezing cold.  Mila let us know that she wasn't scared at all!  (She really wasn't.)  Siena started getting really whiny.  We went to a restaurant at the top for hot chocolate and she made me hold her the whole time, refusing to eat.  We couldn't figure out why she was so miserable... until the way down when she started puking all over me.

I'm four years into parenting, and this was one of the most disgusting things I've experienced.  It was in my hair, two layers of coats, pants, in my purse, on my shoes.  And all over my hand, which was made it super cold.  I couldn't move without making it worse, so we just finished the ten minute ride down in misery.

And the smell made Tiago start to puke so Hyrum took him and Mila into a different gondola car at one of the stops.  When we finally made it to the bottom I apologized profusely to the guy on duty and went to the car to clean up.  My arm was almost falling off from carrying Siena in the same position for nearly an hour.  There were several more 'incidents' that evening and through the night, but she woke up feeling much better.

We didn't have any free time until the kids were already asleep.  Mila's pack & play was in the bathroom (per usual) so I snuck in to wash my jackets and purse in the dark.  (I also did a load of laundry in the hotel laundromat after tracking down quarters and detergent).  My lightweight down jacket got hung on a kitchen chair, about a foot away from an air vent.  When I went to put it on the next day I realized the stopper at the bottom of the zipper had melted and the zipper was now completely useless!  I couldn't believe it.

[I've had a disappointing year with wardrobe investments.  I finally got to a point where I really liked the idea of finding the perfect ______ and having it forever --- coat, boots, jeans, purse, etc.  I don't mind spending money on something I'll get a lot of use out of.  But last spring I ruined my newish expensive boots with spilled laundry detergent, and then the melted jacket zipper...  I'm now torn on whether it's worth it to splurge on nice items.]

The marriage retreat was awesome because it provided child care.  We had two mornings of classes, one entire afternoon kid-free to explore, and two nights in the hotel, plus food.  The child care was great!  They did face painting, games, movies, and after Tiago recieved Magna Tiles for Christmas he told me he'd used them before at the "hotel in the mountains".  So I guess they had Magna Tiles, too.

Hyrum and I spent our afternoon exploring Breckinridge--the down town area is really cute with shops and restaurants.  We also went ice skating and finished the afternoon at the hotel's saunas and hot tub.  No better way to set goals than from the comfort of a hot tub.

We picked the kids up and went back downtown to watch a Santa Claus run.  We thought it would be fun to take them to a french cafe for hot chocolate.  It was THE worst dining-out-with-kids experience of my life!  We ordered three delicious chocolates, with amazing flavored whipped cream on top.  Unfortunately, they were hot.  And there were no napkins on the table so I had to wait for the cashier to finish and ask her for some.  While we waited for them to cool down Mila spilled the amazing raspberry one.  She started crying.  I had to go ask for more napkins.  (She still didn't give me enough.)  Tiago got mad and smacked the large hot chocolate across the table, of course making an enormous mess.  All three kids were hysterical and we had to put Tiago in time-out outside.  That involved rounding up all the hats, gloves, and coats and bringing the kids outside.  I finally stepped behind the counter and grabbed handfuls of napkins.  And cleaned to the best of my ability and got out of there because I'm sure we were annoying everyone with our noise and chaos.  Luckily we were able to resolve the situation outside, Tiago apologized, and we were on our merry way to look at Christmas lights and go home!  (Sadly, we were down to half the hot chocolate we started with.)

Before returning to Colorado Springs the next day we stopped by a train playground near the ice rink.  It was a really cute set up--with a few big trains on display and a playground that looked just like a train and water tower.  Tiago sold us tickets at the fake ticket booth and then took us on a ride to the North Pole.

It was certainly a memorable weekend--the good with the bad.

Amie and Talia come to visit (September)

Knowing we only have 1 more year here (or less) I tried to guilt my siblings into coming to visit me.  Jenna has been several times, and Courtney and Peter finally made it here in May.  Amie booked a trip for September, which fell on a week Hyrum was away training.  So it worked out perfectly to have day after day of girl outings.  (And our kids mostly slept/napped on the same schedule.)

Our first priority was brunch.  Twice.  (Different days.)  The first spot was nearby these Humpty Dumpty statues that Siena is obsessed with (to put it mildly.)  She asks to see these pictures regularly. (You can see two in the top left background.)

We took them on a walking tour of the base, at least the highlights.  (Tiago was in school every  morning they were visiting, so he missed out on a lot.)

We visited an apple orchard and a nearby pumpkin patch.  Both were pretty small (and completely empty on a Thursday afternoon.)  But it meant the kids could wander around without bugging anyone. 

We went to Manitou Springs again (this is a fun place to take anyone with kids.)  Talia's face was completely neutral about the experience, but whenever a ride ended she immediately wanted to do it again.  Deep down, there was some excitement.  When trying to decide between the town's ice cream or fudge, we picked both.  Amie (especially when pregnant) is fun to have around.  I also realized that house guests rub off on me.  When Jenna or my mom visit, I wear normal clothes and at least put on mascara.  I don't think I put on make up the entire time Amie was here, and she spent much of the week in yoga pants.  So overall, we were quite relaxed and comfortable.  And ate a lot.  

Before they left on Friday night we all went to Dunkin Donuts, one of my kids favorite spots.  

Not pictured is the most touristy place in Colorado Springs: Garden of the Gods.  When we were driving down the road we both realized we'd left our phones home.  So no pictures!  That's just the kind of week it was.  But the kids had a great time playing in the dirt and 'hiking'. 

Also not pictured:  Talia got pink eye from Mila (again.)  It seems that Mila has pink eye a lot, but it's mild and doesn't really affect her.  And Talia catches it immediately and gets really sick.  So there was a trip to the instacare so she could get medicine to open her eyes.  Meanwhile, Mila was completely fine.  And Siena and Tiago were completely fine.