Family Vacation

So we are now heading back from our trip to UT. We had a fun time seeing family, hanging out and generally laughing and joking. It felt good to not deal with the stresses of everyday life(But always in the back of my head was the thought that I wish the house would sell). I have seen some pretty cool things while on our trip and wished that all of them would have translated as well on camera as they do in person, but alas not all will. In Kansas, we witnessed the vast neverending fields of grass.....they seemed to be a huge green ocean. The wind was blowing and it caused the grass to dance and sway. I don't know why but I found that beautiful and cool to watch. I was great to see the hugeness of the mountains of Colorado. They are not as lush with greenery as we see in MO but their sheer mass reminds me of how incredible all of the Lord's creations are. While in UT, we went to Bridal Veil Falls and I loved watching the waterfall there. I know that it isn't the most spetacular one out there but it was still nice to dip into on a hot day.
While in CO, we got a chance to stop in and see our old ward from Colo Springs. It was like coming home. As I drove in it felt like I had just come home from a really long vacation. It felt so good to see old friends. I got a few double and triple takes before they finally realized it was really me sitting in the chapel....I had a good chuckle. I wish that we could be going back there on a move since we have to move on again, but alas it is not meant to be at this time.
We saw A LOT of family and a mass of cousins. I loved watching my children interact with them and hope at some point I will be able to get some pictures uploaded here but that won't be for awhile longer since I have no internet access at our home. Oh well. At least you will hear from me from time to time until then. I wil feel good to be in my own bed soon, But it has been great to see family. I miss being able to live near them desperately. But the one thing I will not miss in all this driving around is the gas prices and the whining of the children as we drive. Why do they insist in driving me insane in the car......why is it when children are stuck in the car and bored that they tend to pick one of two activities....either they whine at me or fight with one another. At least it won't be much longer before we get home and then we will at least not have to drive again at least for another couple of weeks. Then begins our trek to TX.......

on our way

So we are traveling and I am writing to you from a hotel in CO, but I wanted to let everyone know that all is well and we are having a some fun moments here and there on our little adventure to UT for the 50th wedding anniversary of Tim's parents. I will post some of the funnies and other news when we finally get to a stopping place, but wanted to warn that from now until we actually get to TX posting will be sporadic at best. I am at the mercy of other's computers. I just hope to make it in one piece at this point. I was having potty emergencies the first 3 days of our trip and now I am throwing up with a massive headache. Gotta love being at the mercy of fast food. YUCK!!

Major Snafu

So it is almost 12:30AM and we have been cleaning and packing up all day and doing all of the crazy things that goes along with the packers coming the next day to pack us up. It was on the calendar that on May 28th and 29th the movers would be here. My house is pretty torn apart and I am almost packed to go on leave for a long time and then head to TX. Tim asked me if I had the paperwork for the packers ready and I got them off the kitchen counter. As we were discussing them, he looked down and made mention that the lady who helped him out process had put down the wrong pack time of July 28th and 29th and he had had to change it to June. You mean May, right?, I asked. He looked down and suddenly realized that the pack date on his orders was for June 28th and 29th. Talk about a major mess up. A few choice words flew around the room and we both had a moment of stress until I realized that there wasn't a whole lot that I could do tonight about it. I am just trying to see the silver lining in all of this and am trying to reason out that this must have happened for a reason. It may all work out for the best but whatever that may be, I have a messy house now and a more stressed out husband for now.

You Know it's Time, When......

Okay, I give in and will start to do something to lose the weight I know I should. The other day while I was standing and watching TV for a brief moment, Laurel came up to me and laid her hands on my stomach. "Mommy, you have a big tummy....do you have a baby in there?" "Nope, I just have fat in there". That alone should be enough to make me want to lose weight. We all know that kids can be brutally honest and so when my 4 year old tells me I am fat, I am pretty sure that I am not hiding it too well anymore. But the clincher to making my self esteem plummet even more and know that now is the time for action is when I overheard her telling her friend in excitement,"my mommy has a big tummy with fat in it!" I still can't figure out why that would be cause for excitement. Ha.

Bathing Beauty

Here is Laurel's personal swimming pool aka the sled.

Funny of the week

While I was busy in the living room, Connor was on the computer. The computer is right next to the back door and you have a wide open view of what is going on outside. Connor suddenly pipes up,"umm, mom, Laurel is outside naked...." What?! I go to the window and there she is in ALL her glory. She had pulled a sled up onto our deck and filled it with water and was laying in it completely nude with all her clothes scattered on the deck. Ah, the freedom of being 4 in the summer time. I just wish that I had had my camera handy. What a great black mail picture for the teen years to come. Ha.

Decisions, decisions

Tim came home from being TDY in TX at some conference on Thursday night. And then spent all of Friday fishing with Laurel.....well, not all day. He did come home and manage to go out to dinner with me because the Blau's were doing their "free babysitting for anyone who wants it" thing that they do. So we went out to dinner at the Mediterranean Grill. Their Chicken Marsala is horrible-FYI. While there, he dropped a bomb on me. Tim told me that he will be deploying for Iraq in January instead of a year after getting to TX like we thought. Yea, I knew another deployment was imminent, but it will be upon us in 6 months. He then asks me if I would rather stay here in MO while he goes ahead to TX and we would just end up being apart for about 18 months. The catch was that I needed to pretty much make up my mind on the whole issue by Monday morning cause that is when he goes in to start out processing. Nothing like getting prayers answered under time constraints. Heavenly Father, I need a reply but could you hurry, I am on a schedule......Yea, right. Anyhow, so the whole deal consumes my every waking moment like you could not believe and I start going through the pros and cons of should I stay or should I go(cue bad 80's song here, ha)... And after much agonizing I feel like the pros outweigh the cons on my staying in MO with the kids while Tim goes to TX and then to Iraq. So I approach Tim on Sunday night to talk about the logistics and finances and the "how to go about doing this" thing: I mean, can Tim live in the barracks or can he rent a room from a member of the church around there? I may need to make some money to offset cost during the 6 month period of time he isn't deployed, what things from our house would he want to take with him, ect.....My husband looks at me and says, I don't know that you should stay here. You should just go with me now and we will rent the house if is doesn't sell, but I'm not sure, let me talk to someone tomorrow when I out process. AAAAAAAARRRGH!!! Are you trying to send me to a nice padded room on a funny farm or what?! So, now I have to go back to all those people that I talked to and told that I may be staying here and say scratch that please, I don't know what got into me. Should I even pray about it at this point? I feel like I am crazy times 10. Oh well, I guess I should be used to this kind of thing since I have been a military spouse for 15 plus years......