December

I won't say I am "on track" again or that I have any intention of being "on track." I've decided, this is just LIFE. You get caught up, then you fall behind. It is normal. I no longer have guilt or will feel guilty for not keeping up whether that is with the Jones' or with what I think is a Jones. With that said ...

ON TO DECEMBER

December was a long month. It was crazy, busy, exciting and finally, ended.

We were so hoping that we would have a job and could buy a home and be moved into our new place, settle down in our new life, whatever the Lord had planned for us, all by December 1st. Well, December 1st was closing in on us, no word about a job, lots of interviews, no call backs only happy denial letters were coming. December 1st came ... and went. We extended our stay with Uncle Bruce and Aunt Chris. That is when I realized, FINE - obviously YOUR time, NOT MINE Dear Lord! Oh, how I really had so much put into the stability and home I had built in Utah and how much I DIDN'T realize I had relied on that new-found stability and home until it was whisked away by our priority of following His guidance.

No matter, the Lord has something BETTER planned for us, right!? Darin continued to study, apply for jobs and do what he could to help us earn our keep (which often meant helping Bruce with websites, manual labors and other oddities). I continued to work and homeschool Dylan. As the baby in my belly continued to grow the idea of me homeschooling with a newborn while balancing a toddler and working from home became unbearable. I began looking into other schooling options for Dylan. As always, public school is out of the question. There are some private schools out here, but for the most part they have certain religious affiliations. That is out of the question for Darin. Chris mentioned a non-religious and very well reputable private school, Thomas Jefferson. We took the month of December and began the process the school has for enrollment, which is right on par with the application process for COLLEGE! It is an amazing process and rigorous. We first had to tour the school, meet with the Director of Admissions, fill out the application, attend an interview, fill out financial aid (because it is an actual private school, admissions is very expensive), turn in all the financial aid documentation required, much like the FAFSA. The process doesn't end there, Dylan had to go to school for a full day to be observed and tested which would let the school know if he was ready for their curriculum and if he was a good "fit" both with his classmates, behaviorally and academically! WOW. After that, his results of all the processes so far had to be reviewed and determined by a board a Yay or Nay for admissions. FOR A SIX YEAR OLD!

My motivations? Well, the school is amazing. They have top-of-the-line technology; students begin learning a 2nd AND THIRD language from pre-K; they are not standardized test driven; they are collegiate-based driven; they offer art, music, P.E., etc that I cannot offer as a homeschooler out here in a small town (in SLC I was able to join clubs and groups that supplemented our curriculum); and the biggest motivation for me ... 100% of their graduates go on to college!!!! This is my investment into my child's future education. Their class sizes are small, each grade has approximately 20 students so there is a lot of one-on-one attention!! They offer tutorials for as young as 1st graders for students who need extra practice (what a great way to begin study habits). Graduates average 1.1 million dollars PER YEAR in MERIT-BASED scholarships! Amazing!!! Need I say more? I really can!! Anyway, so with the expense, with the process, I am highly motivated. I have high expectations for my childrens' education and Thomas Jefferson is the closest to match my expectations than any other option I have found and believe me, I have been looking!!!

The only down side (and it isn't much of a downside because of all the up-sides), my child is between 1 and 4 years ahead of his grade/age in various subjects. This school does not have an accelerated program, but is on par with curriculum being offered for 1st graders at other schools. The difference is ... see above!! Plus, in 7th grade they get to start Latin. They begin accelerated education in higher grades, so I'm not worried.

So, with the process started and finished and the waiting game commencing, we are at the middle of the month already.

Take a break if you need one ... this post is loooooong

Closer to Christmas we made sure to do our annual Gingerbread house. Aunt Chris joined us. We had a ton of fun with the assortment of candies and fondant. Be sure to catch the Hansel and Gretel witch at the top of the house. After it was all said and done I mentioned to Darin, "I bet you couldn't eat that witch without puking." Knowing he couldn't pass up a comment against his masculinity like this, of course, he had to wager a bet. I bet him $20 of our money that he couldn't do it. You'll see who won below.




Before moving out of Utah, the agreement I made Dylan's "one-Daddy" (as he calls him) was that Dylan will fly home three times per year. Every other Fall break, Christmas, Spring break, Thanksgiving and for 1/2 the summer as long as he is current on any support obligations. Dylan already flew in October for Fall break, all by himself. That was a hard. He loved it, of course. It was a great big adventure for a 6 yo. 2010 is the year for Fall break and Christmas. I booked tickets for all of us to go back to Utah to visit for Christmas.

The way airline tickets work is amazingly expensive. For one ticket, only available through Delta for an unaccompanied minor, tickets for Christmas were about $700 (total)!! I booked tickets for all four of us on a regional airline for the full break plus a week for $700!!! Darin still didn't have a job and so there was no point in him staying home, alone for Christmas so he got a ticket, too. We were days away from leaving on our Utah Christmas vacation ... and ...

Darin got a job! Of course, he has to take it. We aren't picky. It was a temporary job working at a call center offering IT support for tax software during tax season. He took the job and we took a plane. Before we left, we had Christmas for our family 12/18. Way early, but way fun. Pics to come.

Our family tradition for Christmas is to keep the meaning of Christmas as close to the surface as possible so we only get 3 gifts and our budget is small. The three gifts are symbolic to the 3 Christ got from the Wise Men. It works out even better than other Christmas' we've had or have heard about because the gifts become more meaningful and the Spirit is so much more evident as we ponder the true meaning of Christmas and the limit creates more personalized gifts. Plus, with small budgets, things get creative. This year I tried to stay away from buying books. I'm a book feign and my kids have a million books.

Christmas morning ...


Instead, Dylan got Legos, a Belt Blaster Nerf gun (he's been asking for since September) and a panda bear Pillow Pet. Abigail got a Lady Bug board game, a lady bug Pillow Pet and a magnetic dress-up doll. The gifts were perfect. The kids LOVED them. Dylan kept repeating "this Christmas was the best Christmas ever" and "the Legos were the best gift ever." Even after he came back from his "one-Dad's" house, he still said it!!! Whether it is his age and level of cognition or what, I don't care. I'm taking that compliment and keeping it close to my heart!!! What a doll for saying such ... oh, sorry, I'm not allowed to call him a doll anymore. He's my "action figure!" What a great action figure for saying such nice things and validating Mom's hard work to find the perfect gifts for Christmas. The kids carried their Pillow Pets everywhere the whole time we traveled to and from Utah. They were a big hit, too. Abigail swooned over her dress up doll and just loved it from morning until night the whole rest of the month.

Dylan had so much fun with his Belt Blaster, but I believe Uncle Bruce had the most fun trolling around the house and shooting anyone who was (or wasn't) looking! It was so fun. The kids got special gifts from Aunt Chris and Uncle Bruce, too. Abigail got chapstick and a necklace. Dylan got explorer gifts and a flashlight. Dylan made Abigail an ABC necklace so "she can learn her ABCs." She knows her letters and now she gets to learn what they look like. What a thoughtful kid.



This year we were able to do Christmas Eve PJs. The kids desperately needed new PJs and all our warm comfy PJs were in storage. We expected to be in our own place by now and able to wear them. Darn, but we did get to buy new ones. Yum!



Mom got a couple maternity sweaters for her gifts and the kids and Dad made her new church bags. Darin got a complete new dress outfit. He looks WAY nice. He got new khaki dress pants, a new button up dress shirt, a new silk tie, and new dress socks. He got to wear them earlier than our early Christmas since his gifts were to rock interviews and look oh-so professional!! I know it worked! He is such a stud.

The next day we were off to Utah, leaving behind my sweet husband. Bruce and Chris were also heading out to Utah for the holidays so Darin would be completely alone. I was bummed for him, but he was excited to have the time to knock out his studying and enjoy working a job for the first time in three months. I asked for members of our Ward to take him in for Christmas and/or Christmas Eve. I was sorely disappointed when he did not get much of an invitation and was ultimately forgotten about for the entire length of our adventures.

Needless to say, we were both worried for me 7 months pregnant with a toddler and a 6 yo traveling with 3 carry-ons and a laptop case through airports and on the plane with a car seat. Whew! It was a mess. People were generally nice about it until we got to Vegas. People were much less patient and kind in Vegas. Go figure. We made it, though. The trip was excellent. Abigail had a blast on her first airplane ride. The kids played well together and all was agreeable. We landed in Las Vegas and my sweet brother-in-law was there to pick us up. We had a great chat on the car ride home to my in-law's house. The next day, my sister came to pick us up from St. George and tow us home to Salt Lake City where I would get to spend the next two weeks with my Mom. It was a round-about and long way to get from Missouri to SLC, but we did it and we did it well. Thanks to all who helped us!!



I dropped Dylan off at his "one-Dad's" house, much to my dismay and Abigail and I began our two week visit with Grandma. It was awesome. Mom and I had a wonderful time catching up, talking about so many things, finding out what we had in common and how much we enjoy many of the same things. It was a re-connection that meant the world and more to me! I wouldn't trade any of the happenings over that two weeks for anything because I got so much more out of my relationship with my Mom than I thought possible. I got to visit family and friends. Abigail and I visited Klasina, Sarah, Sharane, Melissa, Kim, Jen and many other friends and family. I even got a surprise Christmas delivery from my husband. He ordered and sent me flowers, my favorites - Lilies! Mom and I got to go to the new Oquirrh Mountain temple.



Christmas came and went. We got to go to my Aunt's house and see the rest of my Mom's side of the family. It was so great to see everyone and hang out like old times. It was exactly what I was looking for. I had already missed my family soooo much more than I thought I would. Abigail got to play in the snow and got a new Christmas dress from Grandma.



New Year's came and went.

and now it is January ...

Turkey Day and other adventures

Yay, it's Turkey month. I LOVE the fall. The fall is the best time of year. Light jacket weather, beautiful colors on the trees, lots of fun outdoor stuff still left to do.

First, my birthday was at the beginning of the month. My husband desperately wanted to get me a spa package for my growing pregnant body. It would have been wonderful, but I wanted to be together, not naked under some sheets with a stranger touching me ... eew. Maybe some other time. So, he decided we were going to go 4-wheeling, a past time I had not had much encounter with and was interested in. Him and my son piled as many of the millions of leaves around the house as high as they could, got me on the 4-wheeler and I got to BLAST right through them like a parade of leaves. It was so fun. Then with the kids' help, we did it again and again and again.

Bruce and Chris had so much fun with us playing in the leaves and riding the 4-wheelers. I learned how to drive it and took my husband around and my son around. Eventually, I caught the 4-wheeler on FIRE!! Oops. Luckily, Bruce and Chris have an amazing sense of humor. We all learned that leaves don't just fall out of the nooks and crannies of a 4-wheeler engine. After we played in the leaves some more, we dropped the kids off to my husband's cousin and we had a wonderful dinner date. His cousin, Karin invited the kids to spend the night so Darin and I had a quiet house all to ourselves with no obligations to wake up for in the morning. It was wonderful. We were still in bed by 9pm and we still watched our TV shows before falling asleep, but not having to do the bedtime routine, fight against stall tactics and waking up well before any one of us is ready was delightful!

Next, was the annual Westwood household leaf day. (In case I forgot to mention, we are living with Darin's Uncle and Aunt in Missouri while Darin finds work and we are able to get into a home. They are amazing people and have been AMAZING to us.) Apparently, every year Bruce lets his leaves fall until you can swim in them, no joke - there is a TON. Then a bunch of Elders come over (and they look forward to it every year) and help rake the leaves into the bed of a trailer, drive down their three acres and dump all the leaves into a fire pit, watch them burn and go back for more. It's fascinating to watch these boys have as much fun as they do. Darin loved it! The kids LOVED it. I haven't seen the kids play outside for as long as they did those days EVER. They were outside playing for the entire day, cold, it didn't matter.

Finally, the best part of the month when stores close, families spread out to their respective homes, get-togethers are planned, turkeys are cooked, corn and green beans are made into interesting plates and lots of downtime is found around the TV, the dinner table, the card table, wherever. For this Thanksgiving, we traveled South from Missouri to Dallas, TX to visit my brother. My brother has been living in Dallas for his whole adult life. He is 11 years older than me and he has NEVER had family come to him for a holiday. He hasn't always come to us, but he has never gotten to host HIS family. He was thrilled when we asked if we could join him. He worked so hard to get the dinner ready and perfect and his house ready for my poor asthmatic-and-severely-allergic-to-cats husband (my brother has five cats!!). We rented a hotel room, cheapest we could find (ended up being a pet friendly hotel, oops!). My husband was drugged on Benedryl and an inhaler all weekend with a Dr. Pepper in his hand to keep him from falling asleep - what a great guy, sacrificing so much so he can be with my family.

We arrived Wednesday night, met my brother at the hotel for a quick "hi." Got up on Thursday morning to head to his house and found our car DEAD. Oh, wow. What a weekend this will be. Turns out my six-month old battery was toast. We blamed it on Darin leaving the lights on, the drastic weather change to freezing, the no-name brand of the battery, who knows. Then we feared it would be something worse than the battery and started panicking (ok, I did the panicking) that it was the alternator or some other expensive part. My poor car has been an angel to all the abuse we've given to her for the last three years. I couldn't imagine she would give up now. So, on Thanksgiving Day, a couple nice boys tried to jump us. Sadly, their cables or ours wouldn't produce any juice. I called my brother to come rescue us, happily, laughing all the way, he did. We sauntered into his house since the car threatened to die on us the whole way to my brother's house, parked it and left it there until we left for the hotel 9 hrs later.


The 9 hrs at my brother's house was great! It was such a wonderful experience. We hung out, watched movies, played computer games, cooked, talked, hung out. It felt like such a great family time experience. I hope never to forget it. The kids enjoyed their time with Uncle David and Aunt Shannon, playing Wii, watching movies, playing with the cats and their cousins (all are God kids of my brother and his wife).


The next day (Friday) we avoided doing any shopping ... Black Friday and all. Instead, we spent the morning looking for a vendor who sells the type of battery in my car. We went to about a dozen places. ZERO luck, so we bought a new battery, had it installed and didn't have a problem again. We spent the afternoon at Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum.



It was a blast seeing all the freaking things. It was Dylan's only request and so we made it happen. The best was the mirror maze. The six of us going around in circles, returning to the entrance when we thought we were making headway out of there. Finally, we made it. It was hilarious, Abigail walked into mirrors, not understanding, David disappeared and played with the mirrors to direct us all over, Darin and Dylan wondered off and were lost together while Shannon and I stayed together confused. It was so fun. Afterward, back to Uncle David's house for left overs and more hanging out. That night the cousins babysat for us so we could go on a double date with David and Shannon. We went and saw Harry Potter 7. It was pretty good. Then Uncle David invited the kids to stay over night so Darin and I could go to the Dallas Temple.

The temple was awesome. It was the first time in a loooong time we had been able to get to the temple. Rather sad when we lived within 15 miles of 4 different temples in Salt Lake City. But we went, we were there, we served. It was a wonderful time. We both cried and felt the Spirit and enjoyed the companionship. When we got back to Uncle David's we enjoyed participating in their Christmas tradition of putting up the tree and decorating the day after Thanksgiving. It wasn't the day after, but it was a lot of fun. Abigail kept saying "Look Mom, we found CHRISTMAS!!" Dylan enjoyed fighting with Abigail about what ornament to put where. I love having siblings for my children.



Sunday we went out for breakfast at IHOP, my favorite and said our Goodbyes. We had such a blast and didn't want to leave, but the weekend was over. It was awesome to get back together with my brother and celebrate the greatest holiday of the year with him and his family. Next year, we plan on doing it again for Christmas! Should be fun!!

October

Falling behind ... again ...

October was a GREAT month. Darin started school again at WGU earning his IT-Security B.S. and we got to begin the holiday season beginning with Halloween!!

We really love Halloween. It is the month you can dress up as anyone you want and have FUN. We don't have a lot of social parties we get to attend as adults anymore, being single was much easier for that, so now we maximize our kids' venues. It is fun for us and fun for the kids and they really LOVE playing dress up with Mom and Dad.

This year we were a family of Pirates. My son has humored me for the last 6 years of Halloweens and has allowed me to dress him up as part of our "theme" each year. Some years he demands a costume of his own and we compromise. I hope he still enjoys being a family of ... something ... for the next 6 years. Otherwise, this could get expensive.

My first couple Halloweens with kids I made the costumes. They were easy; Hercules one year (Mom and Dad were Zeus and Harah), Bam-Bam another year, simple! We try to keep cost down so we costume shop most of the month. We settled this year with matching Pirate costumes which is great!! Last year we were a family of Incredibles and had our annual family photos shot in our costumes (see the link, http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=417950&id=845670461 to view). Loved it! This year, we won't do that, but we did have fun being Pirates together.

The kids wore their costumes the entire month and well into November. That's when I know it is a good buy. My son's is already worn out! Thin material, ah well.

First, we went to the town square. Where we moved has a "downtown" that is just a square. It is way cute. The surrounding shops handed out candy. We rushed down when I got off work (right before it ended) and were lucky to get what we got. We were the only parents that dressed up, too. So sad, but maybe those parents that dressed up had already left? Next, we had the Ward Halloween party that was complete with a fashion show/contest, yummy treats and a Trunk-or-Treat. Again, we were the only parents that dressed up. Last, we went to the library Trick-or-Treat. There wasn't much Trick-or-Treating, but we got to read books with the library dogs (pet adoption organization) that are popular visitors for the library and enjoy color pages and books. Can't hate that. And the kids still loved it.

By the end of the month, we had had our fill of Halloween and were VERY much looking forward to the next round of holiday cheer - THANKSGIVING, my favorite! YUM.

Ok ... where was I?

Ah, yes, I have caught you up through August. Now we are in September. The month of packing, chaos and moving.

We said our goodbyes to as many folks as we could. Our first plan was to move to St. Louis, MO. I had no interest in living in KS City, MO and Springfield, MO didn't have any jobs for the husband. So, no other larger towns existed that we could think of ... so, we were headed to St. Louis. The closer our moving-day came, the more we realized we were not meant to be in St. Louis ... for now. We secured living arrangements with Darin's Uncle and Aunt in the SW corner of Missouri, not near St. Louis at all! However, we had a plan and we made our escape. Leaving behind 30 years for my husband, 8.5 years for me, 6.5 yrs for my son, 2.5 yrs for my daughter ...

A NEW ADVENTURE.

We hit the road.

The drive was actually pretty good. We left Saturday morning. I was lucky and woke up Saturday morning with an incredibly bad cold. I can't remember when I had such a bad cold. So exciting for a 3 day trip ahead of us. Darin in the truck, me in the car with two kids. We made it to St. George. Our plans were to hang out with Darin's parents for the weekend, maybe make it to Hoover Dam as one last "Hooray" for the West Coast sites to see. With my bad cold and the route we decided to take, it was not possible. We canceled our plans to visit Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam and I stayed in sick all Saturday and all Sunday. Monday morning, I was well enough to make it with tissues in tow, Halls cough drops and lots of water. To tell the truth, it was way nice to be sick in St. George and have parents who wanted to take care of me. That was a way cool experience - being doted upon. But, good things must come to an end, we must move on and I NEED to be healthy!

Monday morning ... we were off ... again. We drove the route to the Grand Canyon and suffered through Arizona. There is just NOT much to see. It is not as flat as I had thought. There are red cliffs everywhere and we took a lot of canyon roads, so it was still pretty fun. Below is an overlook right at the bottom of the Canyons as you go to the Grand Canyon, smack in the middle of Arizona.



Finally, after about 8 hours we made it to the first town in New Mexico, Gallup. We planned on stopping in Albuquerque, but that wasn't realistic for two young kids STUCK to their car seats for so long and after we discovered that we stop every 2-3 hours - makes for a VERY LOOONG trip!! In Gallup, we got a hotel, crashed - slept great and were off again the next morning!!!

We drove through the rest of New Mexico and were planning on stopping in Amarillo, TX for lunch and try to make it to Oklahoma City, OK for the night ... nope ... not the way it worked out.

RIGHT outside of TX, by one mile!! My car DIED. Darin was way ahead of me in the truck and my cell phone was about to die. There was construction through most of the state of NM and so I had no shoulder to pull over into as I coasted to a stop. There was a huge semi-truck behind me and I didn't know what to do. I put the hazards on, pulled over into the brush and hoped the cars weren't wide enough to slam into me. I called Darin with the few minutes I had to get him to pull over and wait. I called my mother-in-law to help me find a service station!! In the meantime, I tried turning the car on and it would struggle to idle and die. There didn't seem to be a problem with the engine, transmission, starter because it would START, it just would not idle before it died.

Mom found a little town 7 miles into TX. After a few minutes, the car started. I drifted into the traffic and within 1 mile I died again. Wow, this was going to be a LONG 7 miles. Finally, the car had rested enough after a few more minutes that we were able to drive into the first town into Texas. There a mechanic met us at a gas station right off the freeway - THANK YOU MOM! I met back up with Darin and the mechanic had nothing to say other than, "hmmm, it might be your fuel filter." Yikes. He directed us to ... Amarillo - still about 45 miles away. As we were talking to the mechanic and the awesome towns folk that were ready and willing to offer as much information to us about who they know that tows, fixes cars and the like along the way to Amarillo, the soft warm rain fell - just like the Texas I remember from my youth!!

Apparently, that 30 or so minutes of rest and rain cooled whatever was wrong and we were able to make it to Amarillo with NO problems. Along the way, Darin was able to get in touch with his Uncle who simply suggested it was a concentration of gas vapors in the gas tank. Hmm, interesting, makes a bit of sense, I guess. My car has never driven such long distances, with so much weight and packaging and through such changes of weather. So we pulled over in Amarillo, took everything out of the trunk, ate some dinner and did not had a problem for the rest of the trip. So glad it wasn't the fuel pump. That night we made it to Shamrock, Texas.

New Mexico was about as boring as Arizona. At least there was interesting red rock formations in AZ. NM there was a lot of white cliff, but mostly flat.

The whole time, the kids were ... well, kids! Dylan read the whole time, played with his toys and asked a lot of questions. Once in a while, the kids would play together. When the car broke down, Dylan asked, "what are we going to do?" I said, well, we might just have to walk. In reply, Dylan said, "what about all our stuff?" "Well, we will have to leave it and come back."



Abigail, though, was freaking out. She is not a good hostage, let alone for hours. So by the time we got back in the car and headed out from Gallup, NM, she knew we weren't going back to the home she knew. She asked a lot about where is Gma and Gpa, where is Dad, where are we going, then she started to get emotional. There is nothing to stop that. When we were headed to Oklahoma City and ended up stopping in Shamrock, NM, she lost it. My heart broke. She said, "I don't want to go, I'll be happy, I'll be good!" Oh, my. The understanding of a two-year old. It seemed like she thought she was in trouble! So, we pulled over to let the kids have a break, have a good night and enjoy our family. She was MUCH happier after that.



The third day ... the final stretch ... we wanted to be so much closer than we were to our destination. Once we FINALLY passed through the borders of Missouri, though, we felt AT HOME!! We MADE IT. It was a wonderful feeling. From a little ways out of NM, the sky scape changed a ton. Texas had it's rolling hills and more green that one would think. It was humid and sweet, which I love! From Texas on, the green got greener, the hills got more rolling and the treeline blended into the horizon further and further and further out.



WE ARRIVED!

Shortly after we arrived, my husband celebrated his 31st birthday!! Happy birthday, sweetheart. Welcome to a new year of adventure.