Moved

We made it. The drive to Missouri went off without a hitch. Ben and Emily put us up for a few days while we house hunted and waited for our stuff to be delivered. We were hoping to live on base but with nothing available we found a great house for rent just 10 minutes from post. It's twice the size of our old house. The first floor is about the size of our old house with the master and 2 bedrooms, kitchen and living room. Coming down the stairs there is an office, 4th bedroom, work room and an enormous 2nd living room. Previously it was a man cave and is completely wired for surround sound and has a wet bar and a fridge. I'm trying to hold David off for as long as possible before he convinces me to buy a flat screen. The guy has been in school for 9 years... after watching all of that hard work I have a hard time saying no especially because he never splurges.

Anyway, the house is great. The base is really family friendly with great parks, pools and splash parks. The greatest part is that David got 10 days permissive leave to find a house and unpack upon arrival. And then he has about 7 half days while he does in processing. So he doesn't step into the clinic til the 21st-ish. Say what you will about army life... they do provide ample time off!

I'll post with pictures as soon as we get rid of all the boxes and stuff everywhere. Trevin and Ashley drove up to drop off David's car and we've enjoyed staying up late and playing instead of unpacking for the past few days. And with Ben and Emily just 15 minutes away we have yet to feel even a tiny bit homesick. We're a week in and so far Missouri feels great. There are trees everywhere and I'm getting excited just thinking about how beautiful the fall will be.

Mallie Turns 1!

Poor Mal must be the 3rd child. Yesterday my mom came home with a birthday cake, balloons and a present. I looked at her and thought "ohhh we still need to do presents on birthdays". My mom saved the day. We're leaving on our drive to Missouri tomorrow morning early so Mallie will spend her entire 1st birthday strapped into her car seat. I don't envy her at all.
We brought her cake out to the backyard and sang to her. She laughed and giggled and enjoyed for once being the star of the show.

Ashton and Hannah helped her figure out what to do with her cake. It almost looks like she is shooing them away. (Don't you love Hannah's glasses?)

Victory. I love it when they figure it out.

And here is our little spit fire in all her glory after she was washed down. Happy Birthday Mallie!!

Oh Me Oh My Oh Mallie

This little girl is a different breed at our house. The first two are mellow. Very mellow. Mallie is not. She's hyper and bouncy and into everything. She is a speed crawler a super climber and I'm learning to be grateful she can't walk (or run) yet because her legs are super flexible and have trouble with the actual walking motion.

Last week she took a fall down the 3 concrete stairs of the patio. She's so quiet and fast and we all missed it while we were eating dinner. Here's what she looked like after the bleeding stopped about 20 minutes later. Here was the fat lip the next day.

And here she is back to normal.

She actually snuggled and fell asleep on me after the incident which was a first. Then as soon as her scabs healed up she came down with a fever for 3 full days. Roseola. Longest case I've seen so far. I'm happy to report she is back to her crazy self climbing over the couches again.

In other news - David comes home TOMORROW!!

5 years today

My guy came to visit for the 4th of July. It was 2.5 days of pure bliss after not seeing eachother for 3 weeks. Only 2.5 weeks to go. It's been the best 5 years ever. I love you David! Next year will be together for our anniversary.

Summer So Far

I've finally uploaded the pictures off my camera and was reminded of how much we've done so far this summer.

Ashton finished up his preschool with Miss Allie. We will miss her!
We stopped in Colorado Springs to visit cousins.. and Ashton got to hang out with big boys and wear all their cool costumes.

We went hiking around Colorado Springs on a beautiful morning.

The cousins made silly faces.

David went with the boys up this little crevasse.

We took the kids to Temple Square. They thought it was fun to run around but Ashton didn't get the reverence theme. He tried to shoot the Christus statue with a spider web and then asked who was on top of the temple. When I responded with Moroni he said "I'm going to cut him off!" Here's hoping this super hero phase doesn't last forever.

We reconnected with some of our favorite friends. Emily came to visit the first week David left. Elsie and Ashton had a love hate relationship. The boy/girl play differences were VERY evident. But it was great to be with Em again and Katie even came up for a girls night where we all sat talking and laughing until way too late. (We missed you Bree and Lanni!)

We discovered my skinny girls can fit in a swing together.
Just 9 more days till David gets a 3 day break to come to the wedding over the 4th of July! As I watch Ashton and Hannah ride around in their kid 4 wheelers, jump on the tramp, play with their cousins and ride in Daisy (my mom's ranger) I know this is exactly where they're supposed to be. Add to that the perfect weather of 75 degrees and being spoiled by my parents and I KNOW for sure I don't want to be anywhere else. So eventhough I'm without my better half I have a hard time feeling sorry for myself this summer.

06/18/2011

Dear David,
I was ridiculously impressed with Ashton's drawing. I think this is his first 2 person drawing ever. Naturally, I thought this was a picture of the two of you. However he informed me that it's you and me. At least I'm the smaller one and have a little more hair, right?

Cass sent me more pics of your graduation. Here's one of you getting hooded. What a stud you are! I can't believe we're finally out of the "student" phase of our lives. You did it!

The kids ask about you constantly and I'm glad you call everyday to say goodnight. Ashton is still pretty enamored with the idea that you are learning how to be a soldier. He's trying to teach Hannah how to sneak up on people as I type this. You deserve a great Father's Day. If you were here you'd receive this shirt with breakfast in bed. Don't worry they both will be waiting for you when you get back.

I ran up Memorial Hill this morning. I wanted to wimp out at the last turn like I do when we run it together. I pushed through because that's what you make me do but I couldn't help but think running is so much easier with you by my side. Then I realized that's just a metaphor for life. Life is much easier with you by my side. 1 week down. 5 more to go. Love you.

4 days

I've got 4 days left with David before he heads to San Antonio for 6 weeks. We spent the last week driving from TX to Utah with a perfect weekend stop in Colorado Springs to visit his cousin. We had a blast with them and I've adopted Tiff as my own cousin because I love her so much. The 20 hour drive went well and our kids amazed us again at their road trip skills.

This summer will be a complete detox from TV and Internet as usual. I hop on the computer for a few minutes in the evenings but the majority of my time is spent outside in the perfect mountain summer playing with the kids and hanging out with my parents. It would be a perfect summer if David weren't leaving.

On a happier note being here in Midway surrounded by my sisters and Mom will definitely help me forget that I just left some of my very best friends in Texas. Here's to a summer outside. And if you're in Utah I'd love to see you.