Halloween

The night of the pumpkin patch Mitchell started complaining about having a sore throat. Turns out he'd contracted The Plague somewhere, and consequently spent the next few days miserable and on medication. His horrible disease caused him to miss Trunk or Treating at church, saying his part in his first ever Primary program, and the Halloween party at preschool. What a weekend to get sick. Lee and I felt so bad for him. He's been looking forward to Halloween for so long, and then he missed it! He handled it pretty well, better than we did I think. He did get to do some pumpkin carving, which he enjoyed. Sam wasn't as impressed with the pumpkin carving process. For a kid that is constantly creating messes, he sure hates things that are 'messy'. Last night Mitchell was feeling okay so Lee took the older boys out for a little trick or treating. They didn't last long, but they had a lot of fun and were pretty impressed with all their candy. Im looking forward to being bothered with requests for candy for the next forever.

Today's festivities

This morning Mitchell and Lee snuck away for a little fishing. Despite not catching a single thing, Mitchell declared it, "The funnest day ever". Lee spent the whole time getting Mitchell's line off the various things it was snagged on, but I think he had fun too.


Then this evening we headed to the local 'Family Fun Pumpkin Patch', put on by a local church. They were working a pirate theme, with heavy usage of Capt. Jack Sparrow's image. Pretty sure they're not paying Disney for that one. Please notice in the following pictures I got not one decent picture of Sam, he's big into making strange faces as opposed to smiling.
First stop, the hay maze, which we quit halfway through because I didn't have the patience to endlessly wander through the itchy hay.

Next stop was the petting zoo, which was not so much worth taking pictures of.
And then, onto the hay ride. Sam was excited to see a trailer and a tractor, two of his favorite things. We were looking forward to the ride, however, the longer we stood there waiting to be loaded onto the trailer, the more it became apparent that the cause of the delay was the driver's inability to turn on the tractor. You can't even figure out how to turn the thing on and I'm trusting you to drive this ginormous tractor safely around a field? Yes, we still got on, and lived to tell the tale.
Please ignore my crazy face and the shady fellow sitting next to me.


We stopped at the pumpkin patch where the boys picked out ridiculously overpriced pumpkins.


We played a little twilight mini golf. There are no future Tiger Woods' in our family.


The boys wanted to go on a pony ride, which I totally did not see happening. They'd never so much as seen a pony before, and I thought the chances were pretty slim they'd be willing to climb on one. They proved me wrong. They both jumped right up and enjoyed their rides.


It was a fun evening and a good kickoff to the upcoming Halloween festivities.


And lastly, in honor of Halloween, photographic proof of demonic possession.

Happenings

Recently my mom braved the local airport, where they're known to cancel flights without cause and without telling the passengers, to come visit us. Her luggage didn't make it until well after she did, but at least she arrived safely. It was nice to hang out and talk, and the boys enjoyed having her here. She left me with some ear plugs to keep the noise around here at a reasonable level. While she was here we took a trip over to San Diego to see Ben and LaRee in their fancy new Southern California life. Sam was happy to see his idol again. We got some good Mexican food and toured the Midway. Thanks everyone for a fun time! And mom, thanks for the earplugs.

A little sad, but mostly pretty hilarious.

Poor little Luke has been battling thrush for over two weeks now. It has been pretty persistent, and the medication hasn't been working. So the doctor's next recommendation was a more natural remedy called gentian violet. We were advised to keep it away from everything, and leave him in clothes we didn't care about, because things were about to get violet. Man, they weren't kidding with the violet business.

He spent the whole next day looking like a little punk rocker with purple lispstick. Here's a little shot of him at the park rocking Sam's hat and his fabulous lip color. And another shot that showcases how tragically bald he's becoming. Makes me want to cry a little bit.


That stuff is crazy, but it works. He seems to be thrush free.
As an added bonus I'll throw in a few more pictures of our enjoyment of the fact that we can go outside now, in the morning anyway.

Oh so nice

Civilization is wonderful. Just wonderful. I find myself going to the grocery store just because I can, just because it doesn't take a full days worth of my time, it's just so darn close. I'm enjoying all those little things you forget about when you are as isolated as we were; kids walking past the house to the bus stop, cars driving by, streetlights outside at night. The other day we stood at the window in amazement as a little girl rode her scooter down the sidewalk. Our waistlines and wallets are being adversely affected by the food we now have access to. I lived here for three years before we moved away, and we've been gone for almost 6 years, but it kinda feels like coming home. I feel like I have roots here, I know where stuff is, I know people. I've run into a few of the kids I used to teach and its been so fun to catch up with them. Some of them have already graduated high school, crazy! Mitchell is really liking preschool. He has a little buddy named Justin. They do all things preschool together. Justin's mom was relieved to learn that her son's little friend was named Mitchell, and not 'Schnitzel', which is apparently what he's been calling him at home. I think it's so cute they talk about each other at home, and Mitchell can't wait to get to school to see him. Sam was overwhelmed by yesterdays Nursery visit. Eighteen kids is a lot to get used to when you're used to one other kid, who happens to be your brother. He's loving just being able to get out of the house more and see things. Every time we drive anywhere, he's in the back seat yelling "Jeep!" "Tractor!" There are just so many forms of transportation around here he doesn't know what to do with himself. Luke, well, he's a baby, so not much going on there. Although, since the big boys have been conned into sleeping in the same room, he now has his own room. This means that he's finally sleeping in his crib, and not his swing in the laundry room. Lee still hasn't started at his new station. He's on leave for the move. He's enjoying running into friends at Petsmart and having the possibility of fishing with some buddies. I am again, just delighted to be in a town again, with easy access to so much. I'm at that point in unpacking where we've found everything that's essential and I'm kinda wondering what the heck can still be in those boxes out there. I mean, if I haven't needed it this week, then why do I even have it? Let's just throw it all out!
And now some random pics from the move:

The hardest thing I've done recently

One of the reasons I wanted to move was so that my kids could have more options available to them. I wanted them to do something with their days besides sit at home with me. However when the time came to sign this guy up for preschool, I couldn't do it. He's four, and since the day he was born, with a few brief exceptions, he's been with me. I just really struggled with sending him out in the world, trusting other people with my baby, and letting go of control over what he might be learning about the world. Oh that was hard. I got a pep talk from a wise friend, and signed him up. Monday was his first day. He was a little nervous at first, but then he started playing and didn't even notice when we left. For that shy little guy, that's a big deal. I guess he was ready. He had a good time, and he's looking forward to going back. Sam missed him, he kept asking about him. I guess both of us will just have to adjust to having Mitchell gone. I don't like not having him here, but I love that he enjoys it and is making friends, and I'm proud of him for not being scared. Be good to him world!

A blessing and a mess

Luke was blessed this past Sunday. It was so good to see all the family that were able to come for our last little fling in this part of the desert. My dad was down here for a few days to roast in the sun. We did some out of town bowling and lots of watching Sam play with the trucks Grandpa got him. Ben and LaRee came over from California and Sam found his new best friend. Ever since then he's been asking for 'more Ben'. Lee's family drove over for the blessing on Sunday. We all missed Rachel who had to have emergency surgery on Saturday. Poor thing!







Now that we're done with the fun we had time to sit still for a minute and realize we're moving next week. Which is exciting and terrifying all at once. I've been working on packing things up, which means I've totally been neglecting my usual attempts to keep up with cleaning. So my usually fairly messy house is a disaster. And man! So much stuff! You never realize how much junk you have until the time comes to shove it all into a box. Luckily this is giving me a chance to get rid of a lot of stuff. I'm starting to feel the time crunch though. Yikes!

Some smiles

Yeah for smiling and talking! Now if he only had the sleeping thing down.

Ain't life funny

About eight years ago I graduated from BYU with a degree in elementary education. I applied for jobs everywhere; Utah, Idaho, California, and on and on. Teachers were in high demand, so I was pretty confident I was going to find a job. As the summer slowly carried on and I spent night after night in the room behind the food storage wall in my parent's basement, I began to be very worried. No one was calling and I was starting to contemplate my future career as a burger flipper. Then one day I got a call from a place called Yuma, a place I'd never heard of. A place that was hotter than the sun and practically in Mexico. Not exactly what I had in mind, but no one else wanted me, or it was my destiny, how ever you choose to look at it, so off I went to Arizona. Most people sending me off seemed to think I'd be back within the year. I was advised to buy folding furniture to make the move back easier. Arriving in Yuma and seeing it for myself didn't make me feel a whole lot better. Oh how I cried when my family left me there. Yuma slowly redeemed itself, I met Lee, made some friends, and ate some really good Mexican food. Things were good, no folding furniture needed. And then there was a slight downward turn, we moved to Blythe. And then a further plummet downward, Quartzsite. A place on the edge of the sweltering wilderness, full of crazies and old people. There is nothing here, really nothing. We've been here for nearly 5 years, and every year I get a little more desperate to put this place behind me. Hopefully this will help you understand why, on Monday, when we found out that Lee got a transfer to Yuma, I did a happy screaming dance. If you had told me 8 years ago that Yuma would bring such joy to my heart I would never have believed it. Yuma has real grocery stores! Lots of them. Yuma has Target! Yuma has four Walmarts! And restaurants that don't involve golden arches. If my children get hurt, Yuma has actual doctors, and even a hospital to help them. Yuma has real wards and real Primaries! Yuma has preschools and fun parks! Seriously several times a day I find myself grinning like an idiot, just thinking of all the possibilities this opens up for us. Yuma is not the nicest place on earth, but I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Where I'm coming from, it's a utopia! We'll miss our friends here, but I can't wait to leave this place behind! We don't even know for sure when we're going, but I've already started packing.

Good news/Bad news

So the good news is Mitchell and Sam are finally getting really good at playing with each other. True, there is no shortage of bickering and occasional tears, but they are getting to be pretty good friends. They love to wrestle and tackle and chase and Sam follows Mitchell around and repeats everything he says. The bad news, they get into all sorts of trouble together that they would never get in seperately. They seem to egg each other on. Apart, they are mild mannered, fairly quiet, and obedient. Together, they tear through the house screaming, jump off couches onto each other, don't hear a word I say, and often find themselves covered in mud. Everyday, at least a dozen times a day, I wish for a basement to lock them in. Just a place to contain the madness. I'm torn, it's fun to watch them play together and hear them laugh but, oh the noise! And of course, someone always ends up hurt or mad. I can only imagine how crazy this place will be when Luke is big enough to join the fun.

Some pics of recent shenanigans.






Proof that they can sometimes sit still: