The Past Year...Part II

That last post was getting pretty long, and I was getting bored, so I decided to stop for a few days. I'm back now though.

I did think of one more thing that I left out. Last September, Miles started preschool. We wanted to send him somewhere with a lot of structure, somewhere with an actual curriculum, not just a glorified daycare. So, we sent him to Catholic school. There is a wonderful private school in Tooele, that was just a couple of miles away from our home called St. Marguerite's. Miles' best friend, Avery, had attended the 3 year old preschool class the year before. She had learned so much. We knew that this is where we wanted to send Miles. We weren't worried about the religious aspects because the preschool classes were not expected to attend mass or anything. Coincidentally, Avery is not Catholic either. She is Baptist. They did pray in the morning, and when they did a unit on animals, for instance, they would do an activity about Noah's ark. We thought it was great.

He did so well! His teacher, Ms. Bonnie was amazing! Miles can now identify, write and sound out all of his letters. He recognizes and can sound out some small words. He understands his numbers and can easily count to 100 and higher. His art skills improved so much. Most important to me, he learned to function well in a classroom, working with other kids and following his teacher's instructions. I really think that this is going to give him a leg up when he starts kindergarten this year.

 

Ben had a big year. He took up running and lost an insane amount of weight. He worked so hard and was so dedicated. Even though he doesn't necessarily enjoy running, he recognized that it provided the results he was looking for and improved the way he felt. After some training, he started registering for every race he could.

He had fun building a running bond with his mom and spent some time with my family doing a relay in St. George. He was also planning on running Ragnar with them this summer, but plans had to change on that one. We are all very proud of him for sticking with his goals. It inspired me to set the goal to run a race....a very small race, someday. I don't run. Ii would really like for our family to be able to do some Run Disney races in September 2014. I think it would be really neat since there is something for every age.

 

Ben also graduated with his bachelor's degree this past winter. After a lot of effort, between classes and still working full-time, he finished his degree in finance from Utah State. He'd worked especially hard to be able to coordinate the right classes with his unusual work schedule. We were all super excited to see it done. We knew that it would provide new opportunities. I don't think that any of us realized how quickly those opportunities would come though.

 

In March, Ben received a call from a recruiter at Fisher Investments. I don't know if either actually realized that the other was out of state in the beginning. Certainly, there was no harm in interviewing. To begin, we didn't take it terribly serious because it would require a really great offer in order for us to be able to relocate. The interview process kept progressing though, and things started looking more and more promising. After several phone interviews and a face to face in WA, Ben was offered a position toward the end of April. The offer was too good to not accept.

 

Ben moved to Vancouver, WA in May, but two weeks was not nearly enough time to get the house packed and prepared to sell. I decided to stay behind, with the kids, for a period of 3 months or until the house sold. That didn't happen, but I'll explain later. For the next month, I along with so much help from Rod, Alex, Jenn, my mom, Karri, Cathy and others, worked tirelessly to get my house ready. From cleaning to carpet replacement to painting to yard work. We did everything. I cannot thank family enough for everything that they did. It was so amazing. For two weeks, Alex and Rod were over at my house every night checking and repairing things that I didn't even know needed to be repaired. I cannot put into words the help the gave me and the thanks that I owe them.

 

Finally, May 31st everything was done. The house looked incredible! (I tried to upload some pictures, but it wouldn't let me) After a rough month without Ben, we decided that there was no point in me staying in UT just to wait for the house to sell. Ben flew in, and the family (with the help of Rod and a Uhaul) drove to Vancouver. While we were waiting for our house to sell, we decided to rent an apartment. Once our house is sold, we'll be in a better position to purchase a more permanent home.

 

After just a week of being on the market, Ben received a message from our realtor letting us know that our basement had flooded. It was a nightmare. Unfortunately, it would prove to be the least of our worries, but again, that will come later. We were so confused as to what had happened since everything had been checked and rechecked before we left. Things were great when the realtor took pictures for the listing a few days after we left. I am super grateful for my dear friend Terreye and for my father in law who immediately went over to check it out and attempt cleanup. Sadly, they estimated that the water had been slowly dripping for about a week, and it would require more than wet vacs and fans. It turns out that somehow the water softener, which we had never used and wasn't even hooked up all the way, had been turned on. After filling, since the hose was not connected to anything, water just ran out. Disaster cleanup came in and pulled up all of the carpet. Luckily, they were able to keep it. All of the padding had to be replaced, and a small section of water-damaged dry wall also had to be replaced. Not exactly the way we wanted our first showing to go (that's how the flood was discovered), but it was taken care of and could have been much worse.

 

And then comes the much worse...

 

 

It's Been Almost a Year?!

I cannot believe that it has been almost a year, and I haven't posted anything. And it's been a very eventful year too! This might have to be a long entry, but I'll try to give the condensed version of events.

I believe that the last post was in August, so I'll start with the next big event that comes to mind...that I can remember. That's Festival of Trees. Last year, I did two large trees. One was called Christmas Colors and was for Miles. It was decorated in oversized crayons and paintbrushes and was COVERED in glitter. That glitter was never completely deleted from my living room until we replaced the carpet. It was a time consuming and messy ordeal, but I think that the tree turned out so cute! Of course, my mother's help was invaluable.

I'm not sure why the picture is sideways, but all of them seem to be doing that on my computer lately. Sorry.

Tree number two was donated by the family in memory of my Grandpa Ray. We called it Deck the Hall w/Donuts. When we were younger, my grandpa worked for the company that did the bxes for Dunford Donuts. He used to always bring us a box when he's come and visit. I'm sure that this is where my love for donuts began. We thought it only appropriate to decorate a donut themed tree for him. Dunford was so helpful by donating several gift certificates for donuts and other baked goods to include with the tree. They were amazing to work with.

Again, sorry about the sideways picture. Hopefully, you get the idea.

 

We were happy to hear that both trees sold at auction. They actually both sold to the same buyer, which we found to be pretty ironic. It was totally by chance though.

 

We had a very eventful December, but sadly, it was not full of the kind of events that we would have liked to experience. On Dec. 14th, my sweet little niece, Amelia, passed away. She is Mike and Marinda's second daughter to be diagnosed and pass away from Trisomy 18. It was so heartbreaking, but I am grateful for the time that we got to spend with Mike, Marinda and the kids over the holiday, and I am grateful to know that Hope and Amelia are together, families are eternal and we can all be together again.

 

Miles had been sick the few days prior to Christmas. We'd thought of taking him in a couple of times, but he would always improve quickly soon after those thoughts. Christmas morning was cut short when Miles just didn't have the energy to open all of his presents. Ben took Conan and Phoebe out to visit family, and I stayed behind to tend to Miles fever. When Ben returned, we both decided that it was time to take Miles to the hospital. As usual, by the time we were seen, his breathing had improved, and his fever was down. I think we were about to be released when they checked him one more time. His fever had spiked, so they decided to keep him. Within several hours, he had been moved to the ICU and was on breathing assistance. He spent the entire Christmas break at Primary's, most of which was spent without food, on ventilation in the ICU. It was the longest and scariest stay in the hospital that we have had, and that includes his heart surgery. I have the days detailed in the notes section of my facebook page if anyone would like more information. Miles was released on New Year's Day. His diagnosis was complications from RSV. By the time he got home, both his little brother and baby sister were down with RSV and strep. It was a long, kind of unpleasant holiday. We're thankful for all the love and concern that was shown to us though. So many people were ready and willing to help with the kids and come and visit Miles. It was so appreciated!

 

Our next major event was a great one. In February, the family took our annual trip to Disneyland. The days were cut a little bit short due to torrential rain, but it was still so much fun! It was Phoebe's first trip (unless you count while I was pregnant, in which case it was technically her 3rd), and she loved it. The boys were crazy about everything, as always. Ben was grumpy, but it was just to play his part. He really loves Disneyland. And we were so happy to have Grandma Karri there with us part of the time. We always have more fun when there are more people to enjoy the festivities with. Plus, it is super nice to have an extra adult to help with the kids. One of my favorite memories from our trip was taking Miles to his first really fancy dinner. We decided to have him join Ben and I at Nappa Rose at the Grand Californian. He fell asleep within about 5 minutes of being seated. The wait staff was so cute about it.

I lied when I said that Festival of Trees was our first major event after August. I just need to keep more up to date on these things, so I don't forget anything. Toward the end of August Rod, Cathy and all the Jackson kids (and their kids) headed up to Park City for a mini vacation. Thanks to Cathy's fantastic connections, we stayed at the Marriott resort right there where all the fun stuff is. They kids had a blast going on the Alpine slides and playing with their cousins in the pool. We adults had an interesting time playing the "not so newlywed" game with other guests at the resort. It was a great way to end the summer!

We spent the beginning of September at Bear Lake with my family. My parents rented an amazing cabin, big enough to accommodate the ENTIRE family very comfortably. It had every convenience and amenity you could imagine. It even had slides connecting one floor to the other. We had and indoor playground, trampoline and basketball court. There was a pool table and game table. We had an x box room and even a full theater. It was amazing. We spent most of our time enjoying the cabin, but we did get out to play on the lake...and pick up some raspberry shakes.

 The past year, part 2 to come shortly.