A little of this and a little of that has beeng going on......
1. Thanksgiving was delightful. What could be better than family, a delicious dinner, and 9 different pies to choose from? We had a great time with Kyle's family and of course the kids had a blast traipsing around the farm playing on the tire swing, jumping on the tramp with cousins, and wrestling with the dogs. I woke up early for one black Friday doorbuster item, and after driving by a few stores with insane parking lots, I decided my work was done and I went back to bed. I actually can't even take credit for my single purchase. I would have been about 25 minutes too late to Target, so Kyle's cousins grabbed one for me and I met up with them to retrieve it. What lifesavers! It would have been quite a tragedy to wake up early to not get what I came for. Okay, not really a tragedy, but it would have been disappointing since we are planning a few long road trips with the kids in the near future and having a dual screen dvd player would be a nice distraction for a few of the 12 hours. We closed our quick trip with the traditional stop at Pier 49 for some pizza, X-box, gumballs, and a new favorite: white board art with Gramma!
Woodburys/Hunters/Thomas'/Elders Thanksgiving 2009
Kyle, in the zone. Football on TV at Pier 49= heaven on earth
Cade working on his giant jawbreaker on the ride home one layer at a time.
The highlight for Cade's final lesson was swimming with scuba gear. I think we know what he's getting for Christmas. :)
I can't think of anything cuter than a little girl in a swim cap and goggles. I could just eat her up:)
I am quite enjoying the perks of living close to family:
1. The kids have thoroughly enjoyed being spoiled by both grandparents. We went up to my folks so I could borrow my little sister's prom dress for a party, and in turn Cade got his Mario Kart fix, Savvy got her horseriding fix, and they all got their and cookie decorating and sugar fix. I don't think my kids have been to Gramma's a single time when they have not made and decorated cookies. (**these pictures may look familiar-- I stole them from my Dad's blog. Thanks, Pops.)Tyler and Cade "In the ZONE"
Savvy figured out how to really get her horse to move across the floor.
Savvy was enamored with me wearing this dress for about 30 seconds. Then she demanded, "Where's my Cinderella dress, mommy?!!"
Smashing the dough was the boys' favorite part.
Have some cookie dough with your sprinkles, Savvy.
2. We've been lucky to have Kyle's parents in town a few times since we've moved here. This last time everyone came to town for Kyle's brother getting set apart to be a high priest. He was called into the bishopbric in his ward. He's 25.
Cade and Savvy playing with their presents from Gramma and Grampa Berry. I love this shot because Kyle's doing the dishes.
more bubble fun with Grampa. I love this shot, too. Can you find Randy and Kristen? :)
3. Kyle was heading somewhere with the kids in the car and ran out of gas (he claims he was actually on his way to get gas). Bishop/Brother dear Randy came to the rescue and got them on their way again. I've lost count the number of times we've called Randy and Kristen to come to our rescue. I wouldn't be surprised if they move a little further away from us when their lease on their apartment is up for renewal. They are so being taken advantage of.
4. I love living so close to my sisters. For the first time I was finally able to be in attendance to a sibling's baby shower. My little sister was given a baby shower by some of her girlfriends and it was so much fun! With a little prodding from my big sister, I dug deep and found my crafty side and we built a diaper cake. It was surprisingly not as hard as it looks. Melody still did most of the work, but I admit, I enjoyed taking part in creating something so darling (if I do say so myself) for our soon-to-be-here-niece. I can't wait for my kids to meet their newest cousin. It's about time for a girl to join the family. Savvy will soon be dethroned. I'm sure she won't go down without a fight though. Hehe. (***Again, stolen photos. this time from Becca's blog)
bet you can't pick my mom out of this picture. She blends right in!
Bailey's diaper cake
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Oh, I musn't forget to give an update on the mustache (Sorry, no pictures avaiable for that): After our studio interview with Shelf Reliance, {which by the way, I am a bit nervous to see the results. You know how awkward it is hearing your voice replayed--- well watching yourself on video is like 10 times worse. I'm sure my face was shiny and I tilted my head every time I spoke and had several other annoying behaviors which will make it painful for me to watch... for now we're still in the wondering stage of how the interview went } Kyle resumed growing out his mustache. I soon stopped kissing him for obvious reasons. I have very sensitive skin you know. Well, Kyle woke up one Sunday morning and shaved it off. His excuse: We were visiting our new ward (yes, new ward. I'll get to that) and he didn't want to look creepy. I think he just missed kissing me. Whatever the reason, the mustache bit the dust and I did a little victory dance. He hasn't grown it back since.________
I continued my key search, failing miserably. I soon realized it was my day to switch out the kindergarten classroom's Take-Home-Readers, and decided I would have to buck up and endure the consequences of my supremely absentminded state. I loaded Savvy up in her stroller and pushed her 2 miles to Cade's school. We made it just in time to switch out the books. Savvy and I hung out at the school playground for the next 20 minutes until school got out. I was nervous about breaking the news to Cade. I don't know why though. He took it like a champ and skipped entire two miles home. And it was up hill. My sweet neighbor passed me on our way home and scolded me for not asking her for help again. The way I saw it--- it was a beautiful day, and it really wouldn't kill my kids or me to have a teeny tiny taste of what kids in many other countries do on a daily basis. Going on foot a few miles to and from school is no big deal. What did kill me was the walking part. One unfortunate aspect of being a runner is the annoyance that comes from walking. I could run and get to my destinations in a third of the time it took me to walk, and having gotten a better workout in the meantime. I felt like I was wasting time and being really inefficient walking those 4 miles. It drove me nuts. I totally regretted selling my jogging stroller on Craigslist. Kyle, you were right. I should have kept it. The best part about that day? Kyle coming home and finding my keys within about 3 minutes of looking. And he found it in a place I SWORE I already looked in a dozen times. Such is the luck of moi.
To follow suit with the week, I had a babysitter booked and at my home, and Kyle and I were walking out the door to go to the temple. I decided to check my temple bag and make sure my recommend was in there before we left. It was not. I scoured the home, my purse, my temple bag, the car....it was nowhere. I called the Salt Lake temple where I had been recently for a session to see if I left it there. No such luck. Since we already had a sitter, Kyle and I went out for sushi and bought Cade some much needed pants. Not a bad end, but it wasn't what we had anticipated for the night. Alas. Exactly a week later I found the recommend.... in my purse of all places. Of course. I really think I am losing it.
Miracles. In light of my string of seemingly great luck that week, I was certain that the ultimate upset was going to happen; that something very major was going to slip through my fingertips. Back in late September Kyle and I found a home we both felt good about, made an offer, negotiated terms for a bit,and then finally got under contract. That part happened quite fast. It was bittersweet. We had already grown attached to the neighborhood we were renting in, and the kids have made wonderful friends, but we knew it couldn't be permanent. Once we entered the financing part of the home purchase, well, it seemed nigh impossible that we'd actually end up buying the place. I finally decided to completely separate myself emotionally from the home and decided as long as we did all we could do and prayed all we could pray, I would leave it up to fate. Except when we were entering the final weeks of waiting, I got a little supersticious. I had a birthday gift for my friend that was already a few weeks belated, but I decided to continue with tradition, and not send her gift until we closed. Initially I mentioned it to her in jest that she was going to have to wait until I moved to get her gift, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to mess with the universe. So I hung on to her gift. When we got word that the underwriter approved the loan (GASP!!! of course, not without absolutely ridiculous requests. i couldn't blame them for one of the requests: a letter explaining why we had moved so many times in the last 6 years) I fell to floor shocked, and then started wrapping up her gift.
Wonders never cease. Rather, blessings never stop flowing. I have much to be grateful for to our Father in Heaven this Thanksgiving: Resilient children who somehow manage to continue to thrive despite our many moves, a husband who looks forward to loading and unloading all of our belongings yet again, wonderful neighbors, dear family members who are always there for us and sacrifice much on our behalf, keys to my car, a found temple recommend, and now a home to call our own. Hopefully forever. Minimum 5 years. That's reasonable, wouldn't you say?
