Update…

As we are in the home stretch of our big move, T minus 7 days, what is going on around here?

 

With all the new space to run around since furniture has been moved around or broken down, the kids have been keeping themselves very entertained with their new surroundings. A favorite for sure is playing in the empty kitchen cabinets…

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Making final doctor appointments while still in New Mexico and before we are uninsured for a 30 day time period.

This little one had her post op appointment following her ear tubes. The doc says everything looks great and tubes are nice and open. Yay. Now lets pray they worked as well as Owen’s did and no more ear infections!!!

And this big guy had his stitches taken out this past Tuesday. The doc said everything is healing up nicely. Owen was a tough guy the second time around and didn’t even flinch as they were removing the 4 stitches. Way to go son!

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And because I know my blog can make life seem a bit ‘picture perfect’ at times and we all know that is far from the truth, things aren’t always easy going around here…

We are full of lots of tantrums and the beginning of the terrible twos. Love this child, the attitude maybe not so much.

 

And new things to mess with and places to run around doesn’t always work out so good. Yes, this is my full length bedroom mirror on the floor shattered into a million pieces. Okay, maybe more like hundreds or thousands, but you get the point. Who did it? Ding ding ding, my little angel daughter. Why? Who knows. The good news is she remained unharmed by this huge mess. I’m sure she would state otherwise since she ended up with a pat to the behind and a hefty ‘time-out’! Kids?!?!

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And my Big Boy enjoyed his last Soccer Practice in New Mexico last night. That is pretty high up on my huge to-do list once we get to Colorado is to find him a new Soccer Team to join. He really enjoyed it this year and both his coaches said he has a talent for the sport and to stick with it as long as he enjoys it.

I know my opinion is completely bias, but he is one handsome kid!

Stretching. Poor kids had to practice in 98 degree weather. Too HOT!!!

Autumn likes to eat snacks and cheer and wave to her brother while watching him. So precious. Owen loves having his very own personal cheerleader.

Go Owen, GO!!!!!

 

And that is all the haps going on here!

Gotta pack, bye!

Going Away Party :(

The Bible points out in Ecclesiastes how important it is to have a band of brothers and sisters aka friends,

“Two are better than one, because they have good reward for their labor. For if one falls, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up.”

-Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10-

I was holding up nicely with the move and all, until we started saying “Goodbye”, now I am a bit of an emotional basket case! Last night we were very blessed by some of our AMAZING friends. A group of friends got together and had a little Going Away Party for us. The Altman Family graciously opened up their home and hosted the event. Thank you so much for opening up your home and thanks to all the couples who brought food for us all to enjoy. We have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams by the absolutely amazing group of friends we have made living here in New Mexico, most of who we have met through our amazing church, Sagebrush Community Church. God has placed some great people in our lives that we were able to create beautiful friendships with and who we have raised our children with side by side. I could honestly be here for hours writing about how amazing these people our and how important they have been to our family. So rather than say “Goodbye”, I chose to say “See Ya Soon” because I know we will see them all again, friends like these you do not let go, no matter the distance between us :)

Here are some pictures from our time together last night. 

Kaitlyn made us this adorable Basket of Suckers with a note that says “Having to Move Really Sucks!” Too cute. This will come in really handy with the kids on the 6 hour drive up to our new home. Thanks Kaitlyn, you are too thoughtful!

We brought our jumper over to provide some fun entertainment for the 9 kids (ages 5 and under) that were there. Worked great, the kids LOVED it!

Sam, Abigail, and Autumn

Autumn & Jace and Abby & Olivia.

Left: Gavin & Owen. Middle: Autumn trying on Cinderella’s Slipper. Right: Sweet baby Jesse

Thanks so much for making the AMZING Dessert Charity!!!!

Don’t even get me started or the water works will come flying. This women is such an important part of who I am. She will be missed more than I could ever express. Love you so much Kaitlyn, can’t wait for your visit to my new home in August!!!! Thanks for all you do for me and for ALWAYS being there! We have been through a ton together in the past 4.5 years.

One Last Group Picture:

Thank you God for these AMAZING PEOPLE! We love them all dearly and they ALL will be very missed!

Here we go, from Left to Right, Charity, Matt, Gavin, Jesse, Andrew, Abby, Owen, Brandon, Sam, Laura, Me, Autumn, Kaitlyn, Olivia, Matt, Brittany, Jace and Travis.

Silly Goodbye Picture.

A HUGE thanks again to all of you for making this get together possible. You are all amazing children of God and I am so thankful for each one of you.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you”

-John 15: 12-15-

Summer Lovin’

We all know that we are busy busy busy. But amongst the chaos we still have to try and keep things a bit ‘normal’ for the kids sake. We are trying to make this move as easy and non stressful for the kids as possible. Easier said than done. So although each day includes packing more boxes, taking more stuff off the walls, and breaking down tables and bookshelves we still take a little time each day to let the kids have some fun. Summer fun that is! And what better way to have summer fun than with a Baseball Game and Playing in water?

Isotopes Baseball Game

On Saturday, Brandon’s work had a Employee Family Night out at the Isotopes Baseball Game. It was a wonderful free family night out. They even provided Isotopes Bucks to get treats at the game, we got lots of drinks and snacks at no extra cost! The game started at 7pm so I was a bit nervous about how Autumn would do staying up way past her bedtime. The game ended at 9:45pm and then there was an awesome fireworks show after the game, so we didn’t leave the stadium until 10:30pm which is 3 HOURS past Autumn’s bedtime. I am very glad to say she did awesome! They both did, but I wasn’t at all concerned about Owen. He loves going to sporting events, this one especially because his good friend Josh was there! It was a great family night. I wanted to dress the kids appropriately for a baseball game but since we don’t own any Isotopes gear I settled for their Colorado Rockies Attire from last year….

A nice girl Savannah who was sitting in front of us (Brandon’s Co-workers daughter) shared some of her cotton candy with the kiddos.

They LOVED it!!!!

Snacks, snacks and more snacks. 

P.S. Autumn was filthy from spilling so much soda on her dress. She was one sticky mess when we left!

As you can see, our team did not win :(

About half way through the game, Owen went down to sit with his friend Josh (Josh’s Dad works with Brandon and happens to be one of Brandon’s BFFs) and his older brother Noah and their two cousins Alana and Hayley. He had a great time with them and sat still the whole night. We will miss the Jeffer’s Family so so so so so much!!! 

The picture on the Left is Brandon and Autumn doing the ‘wave’ with the rest of the stadium. So precious watching Autumn take part with all the fans. After 9pm you could tell Autumn was getting sleepy. Good thing I came prepared with Blankie, Paci, and Baby Suzie, she felt right at home.

This was Autumn’s reaction for the entire Firework show. She absolutely LOVED IT!!!! Owen did too but he was sitting elsewhere so I couldn’t get a picture of his reaction.

And about 2 minutes in the car and both kids were OUT! As in snoring out!

What a super fun night!

Sprinkler Fun

Today was a crazy hectic busy day. Lots of appointments, errands, packing and cleaning. Needless to say the kids were kind of strung along for all the craziness. After dinner we decided we needed to do something fun for the kids since it was such a busy non-exciting day. It was so hot today, high was 98 degrees, so we turned on the sprinklers out back to let them run around, have fun, and more importantly cool off! Since I didn’t want to drag out the swim suits we lets them go out in their underwear. That didn’t last long though, somehow it turned into full on nakedness! They had a BLAST! I’ll try to edit out the naked bodies as much as possible but don’t be shocked if you see a tushy or two…

My Cutie Pies!

As if I don’t have enough going on, this girl is INSISTING on trying to potty train. She has yet to actually ‘go’ in the potty but she sure likes to try. ALL THE TIME. Exactly what I need to worry about right now. Sigh. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, as much as I want to encourage her, I also know how much easier things are if she just stays in diapers right now, moving or not. I don’t think parents who rush to potty train their kids really know what they are getting themselves into?! Owen was super easy to potty train too and I’m still dreading it. Lol

And after Autumn went to bed, Owen and Daddy were off to breaking apart the Dinning Room Table….

I have to say, Owen is quite a good helper. He has pretty much mastered the Allen Wrench. He is having a blast taking things apart. Great way to keep him involved in the moving process in a fun positive way!

 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!