I love Holidays!

Jeremy's not so bad after all...

This blog is going to seem strange and random, and frankly it is strange and random, but here it is. (I will also be relentlessly harassed about this I am sure) Oh well...

The picture above is of my sister and her husband Jeremy. If you know me and Jeremy, you might be aware that we were not big fans of each other when he and my sister started dating, or even when they got married. Over the years, I have come to appreciate Jeremy more and to even like him. Why do I bring this up today you ask? I'll tell you...

Today as I grabbed the spices to put in my spaghetti sauce, I grabbed basil to put in. I thought to myself, "wow, basil is a really good spice-I love it and I use it on pretty much everything these days." Then I thought "Actually it's pretty weird that I use it at all as I never used it before in my life until Jeremy gave me a recipe that called for it." Then I thought, "Wow, Jeremy's not so bad after all-he totally introduced me to my new favorite spice-nice."

Now, that made me think of the other great things about Jeremy, and here are a few I thought of:
1-I LOVE his Portuguese chicken recipe. And actually, whenever he has cooked for us, it's been awesome.
2-I am so glad that every time I misplace my copy of that recipe, he willingly sends me a new copy.
3-He really is a great husband to my sister and dad to his kids, and I'm glad cause that's my family he's in charge of caring for.

So, Jeremy, no matter what my dad says, we don't think you are on probation anymore-you can stick around. So, I'll just take this opportunity to welcome you to the family officially. :)

Now that you have all had an inside peek into my thinking process, are you afraid? I think I am a little bit...

Wesley's Birthday-Zoo activity.

Well, yesterday, in honor of Wesley's birthday, we decided to take a day off from unpacking and go to the zoo with our kids. It was Kindle's first ever zoo trip, and the first Armour actually remembers. We bought a zoo pass so I am sure we will be visiting often through the year! Yeah!

Also to celebrate, we went to Sizzler for lunch as a family (where the kids eat free salad bar Mon, Tues, & Wed). It was fun and cheap! Then I had a great surprise when I got home from one of my former young women and great friend Sarah. She had noticed that it was Wesley's birthday and offered to watch our kids for us so we could go out. We had just planned on being stuck at home, but since she offered, we were able to go out to dinner.

Wes & I (and Kindle) went to the Kona Grill where it was happy hour with half price food if you sat at the bar. So we did (which was kinds cool to watch the bartenders make all the drinks). It was not a smokey bar, and we were able to pull up a baby carrier right next to us there. We had great food, great conversation, and watched a lot of alcoholic drinks being made-very interesting! Thank you SOOOO much Sarah!! It has been a long, long time since we were able to go out without the kids!

Here are a few zoo pics from our day:

You cannot enter the zoo without playing on the lions!

Wes and Armour climbing across the bridge-I took the pic from the other side of the waterfall.

(This is in the jungle BTW)

Looking at the HUGE snake that was Solace's favorite as a small girl-not so sure it is her favorite now...she was a bit nervous about it-I guess she knows better now about how dangerous it could be out of the glass...

Kindle in the stroller with the macaws behind her-I traditionally have gotten pics of Wes holding each kid in front of the macaws. Wes was fighting Armour, so this was the best I could do for now.

There they all are in front of the macaws.

There is this new butterfly exhibit (we did not go in-the line was insane!!) But, outside the exhibit there are these awesome benches, and we HAD to take pictures of them.


This picture doesn't accurately show what I wanted to show and that was that Kindle was actually looking actively around at the animals above her in the jungle at this moment...I guess my camera's delay was an issue here...
As a side note-you may be thinking, man, how does she have time to blog with moving and everything...the answer is that I really don't, but last night I couldn't sleep, and today I am just doing this on an unpacking break while I nurse Kindle. I am on my own now as work officially started today.

House tag

Ok-My friend Laura tagged me because she knew I cannot pass up a tag. This is one I usually would pass up as it would be pretty sad to post my messy house, but I figure I have an excuse as I am moving, and this will let you all see a few pics of the new house. I will take more, better pics soon, for now enjoy the tag.

Here is how this works, there is only a few rules: must take picture of area as is in your house. No cheating and cleaning up before the picture.

1-Laundry 2-Closet (we are still moving in-you can see some of the boxes reflected int he mirror on the left.)
3-Toilet (I have 2-the first is the main one, the second is the one in the master bedroom)

4-Kids (I think I am probably supposed to take a pic of their area in the house, but they don't really have one yet, so here are pic of what they were doing when I read my tag...actually that's not accurate-when I got the tag, the boys were running in the sprinkler, but by the time I found the camera this is where everyone was...

Watching TV
Playing on Pbskids.org
5-Fridge-take note that it is basically full of soda and water right now-there is eggs a box of fudge and leftovers on the top shelf though and fruit in the bottom drawers.
Armour helped me take all the pictures...

6-Sink (I am ticked there are dishes in it right now-it's the first time there has been since we moved in! Dang!)

7-Favorite shoes (my new faves-pink fuzzy flip flops-awesome and totally impractical)
8-Favorite room (I took a few pics of rooms)

I love this family room we set up on the basement, nice, huh?!

This is the actual living room area upstairs-full of boxes and we have no furniture to go in it yet, but look at that great window! (there is also a great fireplace that you cannot see)
Solace took this picture-it is the kids' favorite part of our house-the backyard with the play area!!
Who do I tag?! Well, I guess I should tag Laura N cause I love reading her blog, Andrea cause she should have to do this tag too, and Carly cause I have not seen much on her blog since Hallie's injury, and I miss the blogs!! :)

The explaination you've all been waiting for...

OK, so I am sure nation wide you have all heard about the tornado at the boy scout camp a few weeks ago, but you may not have known that a few days before that, there was a tornado that tore right through Omaha. There is a Wal Mart here that was hit by the tornado. Well, just the other day we were at that very Wal Mart and guess what?! The tornado sirens started going off. Before we had gone in to the store, I had noted to Wes that it looked like tornado weather and asked him what he thought the likelihood of a tornado hitting the same Wal-Mart twice. Then the sirens came on while we were in the store. Wes and the kids had gone to grab something at the back while I was in the front returning a malfunctioning sprinkler. They started to say over and over again on the intercom at that point "Code Black, Code Black, all customers and employees report to the pick up area in the back of the store."

So, I start looking for my family on the way back, we find each other at the back and go stand where we were told to. The employees go back in the employee only area and come out a few minutes later to escort all customers back there where it is the safest. We were some of the first customers in, so we ended up in the managers office where an employee gave our kids some pens and paper to draw, and I nurse Kindle, and we waited for a crazy storm that was coming right at us. It was being reported that this was not a tornado, but was in fact a severe storm with up to 90 MPH winds. So, pretty darn crazy, and we were stuck in Wal-Mart to wait it out. It came right over us and we could hear it even through the thick walls and very high ceilings.

It was a really nuts experience and as it turned out it really was a horrible, deadly, destructive storm. Many, many homes & cars had trees fall on them. Some neighborhoods were hit harder than others. We were thankful to have been spared any damage, but our backyard neighbor had a fence fall down, and there were a few trees and limbs down, but nothing like other neighborhoods. I am sure you can find pics on line of the destruction-it was nuts getting home and going around even the next day!

Omaha-We Made it! Now about that house...

SO we got to Omaha, and got to see our house and walk through it for the first time. As we arrived at the house and met our realtor, he warned us that there were a few problems that we would have to contact the seller to fix before we closed on the house the next day. Problems were as followed: 1-they had taken out the washer, dryer & refrigerator which were supposed to be a part of the deal as signed by both parties in our house offer. 2-the carpet in the guest room/office in the basement had greasy carpet that would need replaced.

A couple of things to note here about my reaction to these things-number one reaction was "what?! there is carpet int he basement?" Having been told it was unfinished, I was imagining that it was just a slab of cement with maybe some shelves and a washer and dryer (that were obviously missing currently). So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the basement is much more finished that I had thought and in fact, we have put our TV and family room down there and a probable guest room. NICE!

Second reaction was that I could not believe the appliances were gone, but our agent assured us that he just needed to call the other agent and get them back, and that he would make sure they were back in place before we closed!

So, we walked through he house, loved it, were thankful we got it, and left for the day, planning to see our agent the next day (Tuesday) and to go over to the escrow agency and close in the afternoon.

Monday afternoon late we get a call from our agent that he was surprised that when he contacted the other agent he was told by her that they would NOT bring back the appliances and they were claiming that they were actually not contractually obligated to do so as they claimed they did not have a legible copy of the offer. They told our agent that he could let us know that if we had a problem with that, then we could just choose not to close on the house. Wes had to talk to our agent at that point because that was the straw that broke the camels back for me! I couldn't stay calm anymore-all the stress and worry was too much.

Wes told our agent that we knew they were contractually obligated, and that we realize that they think they have us stuck with this deal, but that we were not without backbone, and that we would not close without getting what we were promised. He told our agent that we have a good lawyer in the family that would make sure that we got what we were promised and that if we were not able to close the next day, we would look for another house and sue them for damages caused by their refusing to live up to their end of the deal (he wasn't a jerk about it, and actually presented it better than I can explain, but he was stern and made sure to express that we were not willing to get screwed in this deal.) Wes did say that he would be willing to make a deal if they wouldn't give us appliances back and we would take money to get some instead if that was preferable.

Within 5-10 minutes we got a call back from our agent saying that the other agent had told him that they had changed their minds and that the appliances would be back in the morning. As far as the carpet was concerned, it could not be cleaned and so they bought new carpet for the room and our agent got his buddy to install it for us.

After all the drama, we went in to the escrow agency Tuesday afternoon and closed at the house, then we went to the house and started moving in.

We have an amazing ward and had a lot of help emptying the moving truck. It was amazing! I cannot wait to get to know this ward better! Awesome!

Now that we have covered that...

I have sufficiently posted my blogs and pics about the Utah portion of this move, so now I guess I will share tales of the move.

So, we left early (not as early as we wanted to) on Sunday June 22 to drive to Omaha. Our plan was to stop in Kearney, Nebraska (about 2 1/2 hours from Omaha) for the night, then to go on to Omaha on Monday in time for our house walk through at 3 pm. Sunday was a long day between potty breaks, food breaks, nursing breaks, and crazy truck problem breaks! Let me explain that, but with a bit of background first...

When we moved from Omaha to Spokane, we took our time (like almost a week I think) to do it. On night one, we stopped near Mt Rushmore for the night, specifically so we could see Mt Rushmore the next day. We had been running late (as usual) and arrived at our hotel quite late. I had to check in, and all 3 kids were asleep, and it was pouring rain. Wes was driving the van, and went to drive around the block to try to find a place to park it while I dragged all 3 sleeping kids through the rain into the hotel to check in. As I was checking in, Wes called me on my cell phone to tell me he was stuck. He had ended up driving onto a dead end, and those that have ever driven a moving van with a car trailer hooked onto it, you already know, you cannot back up with it on the van. So, I had to get the kids back in the car, drive to Wes, and we had to proceed with the 2 person job of getting the car off the trailer, un-hitching the trailer, and backing out the very stuck van (and somehow do this in the Dark, dark midnight time of day and in Pouring rain)...have I mentioned it was pouring rain?! Anyway, we did it, it was a massive hassle, but we did it and it was nuts!

So, we were fully aware of the no backing up thing...fast forward to this move...

We were at our 2nd gas stop, which happened to coincide with a potty/lunch/nursing time (making this an already long stop). So, I was driving the van with the 4 kids in it, and Wes was in the moving truck. I drove up and got gas, then drove into a parking spot to take everyone to the potty. At that point I had lost Wes. I walked into the convenience store (I am sparing them by not mentioning their name as they are a favorite place to us overall, but they were ridiculous and rude and useless at this particular stop...) and took the kids all potty and to change diapers. Armour was a nightmare the whole time, and when we walked out, Wes was in this incredibly long line in the store and he told me that he had not even gotten gas as he had to wait in that line to get his credit card pre activated before it would let him pump. I asked if Armour could go with him as he was driving me nuts (he said yes and took A), and the other 3 and I found some sandwiches and stuff for lunch and entered the long line (by that point Wes was no longer in the store.)

So, we wait in the long line, get crappy rude service, and return to the car with lunch in tow to nurse Kindle. I get Sol & End in their seats eating their lunches and start nursing Kindle. Then Wes called...He said he was stuck in the diesel gas area and he needed some help.

Damn...

So, I stop nursing the very hungry little girl, seat belt all kids I had with me (A was still with Wes), and away we go. It takes me a while to find Wes cause I drove all around the commercial truck area before I found him by where I had been parked in the non-commercial truck diesel area. He explains that he waited in that long line only to find out that at this particular place, the truck pumps are only available for commercial truck use, so he has to go to the public diesel truck pumps. So, he goes over to the 2 pumps and finds that there are 2 campers parked in the way-yes parked in the way!! The people had just pumped up and gone in to eat or something, and after more that 10 minutes waiting, someone finally came out and moved a camper-unfortunately it wasn't the one Wes was waiting behind, so he cranked the steering wheel over and goes into the now, finally empty pump. He pumps his gas, gets in the truck to leave, and realizes that he cannot get the trailer around the pump area and he will have to back up to get out!

Double Damn...

So, we take the car off, take the trailer off, he backs up just enough to be able to get around, and we re hook everything up, and finally get ready to go. By that time, Ender had to pee again, and Kindle was REALLY starving, so we still had to take care of those needs before we could go...

That was the craziest part of our drive (thank goodness). We made it to Kearney that night late, then drove on to Omaha the next morning. More on Omaha & our house in the next post!

Good bye Utah...

On our last Saturday in Utah, we packed up our truck (thank you, thank you , thank you to all those that helped us!!!), then we had a BBQ at my parents house. Thanks to those that came to both things. Here are a few pics of the BBQ. There were many great friends and family that came through, but I did not get many pics, so this is actually a poor representation, but enjoy the pics anyway!

Cousins (obviously my kids not sharing and his cousin is not real happy about it!) Playing
Solace told me her favorite part of the BBQ was that she could eat whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Here she is taking advantage of that!
Me and my buddy Heighley!
Wes & Tom (his youngest sibling)
JG
KG
A
Blowing bubbles
My favorite pics-I guess Wes comes by it naturally-like father like son I guess!

My aunt Kris out with the kids (I think I am in that huddle of kids too actually)
Wes, K & me
K
Thirsty E
We had a great time in Utah and already greatly miss our friends and family! We love you guys!

Utah Fun: Children's Museum.

On the last Friday we were in town, both of Wes's parents, his sister Stefanie, and my mom all had work off. My sister Melanie and brother Spence were with us as well. For our last real day off to play (as we were loading the van early on Saturday), we all headed out for a day of fun, spending a majority of the day at the Children's Museum in the Gateway. Here are some various pics and stories.

Here is Wesley standing in Ender's house. I call it Ender's house because he loved hanging out in there and in fact told every kid that walked into the house that they were in his house now, and that made them his kids and it made him their dad. He, in fact had a bunch of kids much older than him doing what he said and letting him tell them what to do as if he was actually their father. It was dang funny!! "Dad" at his table!
Spence in the house E the father with one of his younger "children" (E had sent this "son" out to pick flowers to decorate the table with, and like an obedient son, this kid did as he was told.)
S learned to be a farmer and worked hard getting hay bales to the horse. Check her out!


E spent some time spelling
See...
A made some friends in this little toddler house area (that is Spence on the right-he was allowed in the toddler area only with A)
My mom & K

Wild Things!!

Wes, Spence, & Mel making a movie...(Mel-post the movie on your blog!!!)
Mom & Spence

Wes, his dad & his sons

Stef & K
Farmer S again
E in his house again (see the much older child behind him? That is one of his "sons")
My mom & K again-check out the hair on that baby!
Grandma helps E climb wall (notice Spence in the background climbing)

Still climbing
Grrr...I climbed a wall...
Army the cop?!
Farmer Sol again