Are we there yet?

We are finally somewhat settled in Yuma and I had a few minutes (that I should be using to unpack boxes) to download some pictures from our trip from San Antonio to Yuma.  Moving is such a painful process.  After 3 years I had forgotten how much I actually hate it.  Last time my mom watched the kids at her house while I packed up and moved and that made all the difference.  It was a long couple of days waiting for everything to be packed up and living in a sea of boxes.  Oh I hope we don't have to do this again in two years.

I will have to say that the kids were pretty amazing for such a long drive, especially Brooklyn.  She was a trooper who got back in her carseat without a fuss every time we stopped.  We spent the first night in San Antonio in a hotel with a plan to leave at 3am so we could get 4 hours down the road before the kids woke up.  My mom came with me since Abe still had to work for a few more days and then outprocess.  Of course I had forgotten how hard it is to sleep in a hotel room with the kids and how hard it is to fall asleep with the stress of moving on your mind.  I think I was awake most of the night and felt like a zombie the next day. But it did work out perfectly that we could make it until about 7am without stopping and then eat breakfast when everyone woke up.  So by 1pm we had done our 8 hours of driving for the day and we stopped in El Paso at our hotel.  The kids loved the huge slide at the hotel and had a blast until tragedy struck and Ethan ripped off his toenail.  Poor kid just managed to hit a paver by the pool at just the wrong angle.  Because of all the blood I couldn't tell if he had just cut it or what and the wonderful (completely helpless) lifeguard assured me that the toenail was still there and just put a bandaid on it without washing it off or anything.  It looked like it hurt like crazy and continued to hurt for a long time.

So the next night we once again woke up before 3am and got an early start on the drive and my super travelers were just as good in the car.  I can be a little bit of a slave driver when it comes to wanting to get somewhere but we all managed to survive and make it to our house in Yuma.  I had only seen pictures of the house so it was so nice to know that we had a house and that it was just as nice as the pictures showed.  Once I was confident that we had a place to live we headed out and went to spend the week in Phoenix while waiting for our stuff to arrive.

We had a great condo up in Scottsdale for the week so we could find more things to do rather than hanging out in Yuma.  The kids loved playing chess and checkers on this huge board but it was so hot that we could only play early in the morning or after the sun went behind the hotel. We spent many hours in the pool, playing mini golf and enjoying the last few days of shopping before we get to Yuma where there isn't much.  

Brooklyn had a blast crawling and walking around the condo.  But we had a lot of bonks as she tries to learn how to cruise and walk through the place.  She always manages to fall on the hardest surfaces.

One day we spent driving to the Mesa Temple.  I can't believe that Phoenix will have 3 temples operating soon.  We walked around the grounds and spent some time in the visitor center.  San Antonio has a small temple so there is no visitor center so the kids had not been to one in a long time.

Poor Brooklyn is always hot and sweaty in this weather.  It will be nice when we can turn her carseat around and she can get cooler in the car.

On our way back from the temple we ran across a Bass Pro Shop and once they found out that my mom had never been to one they knew we had to stop and show her around.  The kids got lucky that they were having some kind of "summer camp" activities and had all sorts of games to play.  They loved shooting a real gun (A bb gun), riding the carousel, and all sorts of other games.  I don't know if we convinced mom that Bass Pro Shop was awesome but the kids had a blast. 

It seems like it has been a couple of years since we have seen fireworks for some reason so the big kids and I went to try and find some place to see them in the Valley.  Lucky for us and the flat terrain it wasn't too hard to find them.  From where we were standing we could see 3 shows going on at the same time.  Taylor was so enthusiastic and would reach up to them each time a big one lit up the sky.  I love fireworks and it was fun to share them with the kids.  It would have been better if Abe had been with us but maybe next year.

We spent one afternoon at the children's museum in Phoenix and the kids had a blast.  I think they spent the most time in the grocery store where they gave themselves very important jobs.  They are both so bossy sometimes but they both were working very hard to make sure things were sorted and put back on the shelves.  They were so serious as they discussed the chaos that would happen if they didn't do there jobs and there was no food for people to eat.

Brooklyn found some huge spoons in the restaurant that she loved carrying around.  She can be exhausting as she wants you to hold her hand while she walks around all the time.  

Taylor is a true salesperson.  She stood "selling" ice cream cones even when she didn't have any customers. She was so persistent. She and Ethan are always asking to start a lemonade stand in the neighborhood so this was right up their alley. 

We had really thought, based on conversations with the moving company, that our stuff would probably arrive during the week while we were in Phoenix but I was happy that it didn't turn out that way so I didn't have to make an extra trip from Phoenix to Yuma but by Saturday we were all ready to get our stuff and be settled.  Abe was scheduled to fly into Phoenix on Saturday and we would pick him up and head to Yuma and our stuff was supposed to get there on Sunday or Monday.  So we camped out in the house with the few supplies we had and patiently waited for a call that our stuff was coming.  By "few supplies" I mean that all three adults were taking turns in the 1 camping chair that we had.  But we were sure it would only be for a day since the last day they could deliver it was Monday, or so I thought.  On Monday morning I called the moving company representative and she casually said that no they would not be making the deadline with our stuff and gave no explanation.  I couldn't believe that was all the information we got.  So with no furniture and nothing to do we hung out a lot.  Here are the kids at the hotel watching tv.

Brooklyn loved the beach chairs that someone from church let us borrow so we didn't have to share the one chair.  She thought she was such a big girl!

We had plenty of room to play with the boxes that the patio furniture came in.

And the most fun we all had was in the pool.  We have gotten spoiled by quick nighttime swims after Brooklyn is in bed and Ethan and Taylor are getting to be even better swimmers than they were.  Brooklyn isn't a huge fan of the water because "Miss Independence" can't do it all herself but she still joins in.

Over the next several days there were stories about the truck breaking down, and the driver having no cell phone reception but no one would say where the stuff actually was or when we would get it.  All this time my perfect plan of having my mom and Abe there to help me as we unloaded and unpacked the house were dwindling.  Both my mom and Abe had flights out of Yuma on Friday and it was starting to look like the stuff wouldn't come before then.  The company told me once that they were in El Paso but then started saying it would take 3 days to get to us from El Paso.  My blood pressure was through the roof as I tried to find out when I would get my stuff and get some straight answers from someone.  Finally on Friday the stuff arrived and thankfully my mom was willing to buy a new ticket to stay a few extra days.  I don't know what I would have done if I had 3 kids by myself for the unloading and unpacking of the house.  

I came in to take a shower at the end of the move in day and this was my bathroom.  This is how to whole house looked.  The movers were supposed to do the unpacking but they won't put stuff away so if you tell them to unpack it then it will be put on the floor until you put it away.  So knowing that I was on my own to put stuff away I only had them unpack the kitchen.  And I really think the packers were trying to be awful with how they labeled boxes because it was impossible to determine what was in a box to decide if you wanted it unpacked.  Like my sheets that I looked for for a week were in a box in the garage labeled "garage tools".  I was going to wait and have Abe deal with those boxes when he gets here in September but I couldn't since there was important stuff potentially in those boxes.  

 It was a happy day when I could finally clear enough space to park the car back in the garage.  Brooklyn cries a lot less when she gets in the car when it isn't 120 degrees in her seat.

Finally the house is starting to feel like home and we are starting to feel settled.  I think we are really going to like it here once we get Abe here and life settles down.  We are loving the gorgeous sunsets and all the new places to explore.  But we just can't wait for it to cool down some so we can spend more time outside.  San Antonio was hot but it would at least give you a couple of hours in the morning when we could go to the park but here the minute the sun comes over the mountains at 6am it is hot.  And by midday it truly feels like you opened the oven door when you walk outside.  It is funny how upper 90's seems cool now and we go for walks at 105 degrees.  I wasn't thinking when I suggested an after dinner bike ride on a rough day only to realize after the fact that it was 111 degrees still.  We can't wait for fall and winter so we can enjoy all the fun things that Yuma has to offer.

A look back

I was thinking today about how fast the last 3 years have gone by but I was remembering that my kiddos were just so little when we got here.  This picture was taken on the 4th of July three years ago when we had just moved in. Holy cow have these cuties grown up!  I just can't wait to see what the next three years will hold for us.

The Final Countdown

I feel like the last couple of weeks have been painful as we know our time in Texas is winding down.  I can't believe that the packers come on Tuesday to start boxing up everything.  It seems like we have had a lot of "lasts" and it is starting to make us all very sad.  We have had an amazing 3 years in San Antonio.  We have had great visits with family, amazing friends, great classmates, wonderful opportunities to serve, and so much fun.  We were so excited when we found out we were moving to San Antonio and we have not been disappointed. It has been everything we had hoped for and more.  I have a feeling that we will be through here again during our time in the military so I won't feel bad about the places we didn't get a chance to see and things that we didn't get to do.

In an attempt to take full advantage of free time left in San Antonio and time with Abe, since he won't be joining us in Yuma permanently until September, we went to visit the Quadrangle at Ft. Sam.  I had only heard of this place through playgroup rumors but it looked fun from some of the pictures I had seen.  So we grabbed some of our aging veggies and went to feed some animals at a little grassy area surrounded by stone walls on base.  We had a great time enjoying the lovely weather, feeding cute animals and taking in all the green.  I'm trying to soak in all the green I can before we moved to the desert.  I have a feeling it will be what I miss the most in AZ.  I remember thinking how brown San Antonio seemed when we moved from the beautiful green mountains of western Virginia and now I keep thinking how green San Antonio is.  I guess its all relative.  The other day Taylor was looking at Yuma on Google Earth and she called to me with a lot of excitement in her voice.  She said "Look mom.  I found some green grass in Yuma.  Isn't it beautiful?"  I guess she will be missing the green with me. But I guess the astroturf in our yard in Yuma will count as green, right?

 The peacocks were very fond of being fed but several of them weren't very fond of sharing so there were a lot of ruffled feathers.  They also loved to sneak up behind us and let out a loud squawk.  I hate being startled so they were not my favorite.

 Brooklyn had mixed feelings about the animals to begin with and made sure to keep an eye on them at all times.

 The deer were so sweet and tame.  I loved to hear Ethan talk to them as he divided out the food they would all get.

 Brooklyn wouldn't take her eyes off the peacock long enough to smile for a picture.

 Ethan was less enthusiastic than Taylor about a group picture but he was a good sport.

 This is what an oak tree should look like.  I have never gotten used to the tiny sad little oak trees they have in San Antonio but this one reminds me of the trees in South Carolina.

 Brooklyn had a love/hate relationship with this little duck.  She was afraid of him at first but then she decided she really wanted to pet it.  I tried keeping her hand away but she kept putting it back out there.  And of course those chubby little fingers look very much like the baby carrots we were feeding the ducks so eventually the duck tried to eat one.  Luckily it was just a little nibble and I think she was more startled than anything.

Such a great day together!

Missing our sweet family

We were so lucky to be able to squeeze one more trip in to Dallas to visit our amazing family up there before we leave Texas.  It was an absolutely perfect weekend and none of us were ready to leave when it came to an end.  I wish I would have taken a few pictures but we were too busy having lots of fun.

We had the chance to visit our ADORABLE nephew Caleb in the NICU while we were there.  He is even cuter in person than all the pictures we have seen of him.  It was so nice to finally meet him!  All of our kids have a cousin in this family very close to them in age so Caleb is Brooklyn's playmate.  We can't wait to see them together one day soon.

Abe's brother had planned a huge surprise party for his wife for this same weekend so it was so fun to get to be in on the surprise for her.  We dropped all the big kids off at a gymnastic place for their open gym and the adults went to a cable lake for wakeboarding.  I have never wakeboarded before but it was such a great time.  At this place you don't wakeboard behind a boat but rather by cables that pull you around a loop.  It was great for beginners like me.  Everyone was so nice and we just had a blast.  The kids all played so nicely together and we had lots of time to visit so it was just a perfect weekend with family.  We have been so lucky to have family relatively close for these past 3 years.  We are looking forward to moving a little further west to be closer to Abe's family for the next couple of years.

The End of Another Year

Where has the year gone?  It seems like a blur but it is official that summer has began and we are getting closer and closer to moving from San Antonio.  The kids both had great years in school and were sad to know that they would be leaving their friends and wonderful teachers.  I was a terrible mother and forgot to check the battery in the camera before Taylor's graduation so we really didn't get many pictures of that but here she is with her two teachers on the last day of school.  Taylor learned so much in school this year.  It seemed like overnight she went to reading small sight word books to reading easy chapter books.  She is still my little rule follower and would report home every day who could not follow the rules.  It's funny that she acts like she doesn't understand how people can want to break the rules yet she breaks rules at home all the time. I think she puts home and school in different categories.  She went to a week of dance camp at the YMCA this week and she was worried that if she missed the first day of camp then she might miss the explanation of the rules and it would be awful.  It seems that some kids in the camp didn't have a problem breaking rules and the whole group had to sit out of free play time as punishment.  Taylor pointed out to me one of the girls that caused the problem and told how she stood up when they were supposed to be sitting and you could tell Taylor was MAD about it.  She cracks me up.

For some reason Ethan's school handed out certificates in class rather than an assembly and decided not to tell the parents about it.  It is so frustrating because there are quite a few parents that are in the school almost every day so they get information but the teachers don't seem to feel the need to pass the information along to the other parents that try to keep a reasonable distance from the classroom.  So I was a little bummed that I didn't get to see Ethan get his award for the top reader in his class.  He has really started reading for fun lately and can plow through some pretty big books.  I am really hopeful that his class next year will be able to challenge him instead of just giving him lots of time to read books in class.

Of course Abe was also a big graduate this year.  We are so proud of him finishing is EM residency.  It has been a long 7 years of medical school and residency and I can't believe it is over.  With all the bumps we have had in the road during those 7 years it seems like a miracle but we are so excited for Abe to start a new chapter in his life.  He is a pretty amazing doctor!

 For graduation/Father's Day we got Abe a projector to watch movies on and it has been so fun.  The kids have decided it is so much better than the movies.  I see a lot of movie nights in our future.  Other than the truck, I think it is one of the few presents I have surprised Abe with that he has really liked.

Last Beach Trip for a While

We had made plans to see our wonderful family in Dallas a few weekends ago but Ethan had a cough so we decided that we didn't want to give anyone our germs up there but the kids were so upset about missing a fun weekend that we decided to head to the beach instead.

This was Brooklyn's first visit to the beach and her took her a little while to warm up to the idea of hot sand and cool water.

 Ethan and Taylor had a blast as always but they were missing friends that we have gone to the beach with in the past.

 This was the first time Brooklyn put her feet in the water.  She wasn't thrilled about the wet sand or the cold water.

 No trip to the beach is complete without being buried in the sand by their dad.

 By the end of the day Brooklyn had gotten used to the idea of sand and had fun playing in it.  She liked it a lot less when I had to try to get the sand off of her in the cold showers.

After all our fun we stopped for some yummy seafood before heading home.  We all ate too much and had a great time.  Less fun was the stomach bug Ethan got that night because shrimp does not smell good when you throw up.  I think that would have to be some of the worst vomit EVER.

We are looking forward to some trips in the near future to the Pacific coast and all sorts of new adventures.