We're Alive... barely (aka "June in a Nutshell")

*** CAUTION: This is a LONG post. You've been warned... ***

We survived our second move in just three months. So glad it's over. We even have a few pictures hanging on the walls (a feat we never accomplished in the rental), so I guess it's time to update my blog. Sorry to have been MIA for so long.

We ended up having to be out of our rental the day BEFORE we closed on our house, so we had to move our lives into (you'll never believe this) TWO U-Haul trucks (one 26-footer and another 20-footer). How embarrassing. We joked about hoping we got robbed so it'll all just disappear. We also had to spend one night in a hotel, but we made it through. Many thanks to our new ward here which offered muscle and babysitting. We couldn't have done it without their help.

RYAN

Hike to Horsetooth Rock (April)

Ryan is loving his job, which he may just say to me in order to soothe my anxieties about being in a new place. I hope it's true. He has been on TWO business trips this month - one the week before our move and one the week after. Both were back to the Midwest, which helped reaffirmed his decision to abandon that region's humidity. He's got a lot of home projects ahead of him. The first one is to cover our patio. (He's outside measuring for it now.) The sun's intensity here is something else. Last Friday he finally got the boys' trampoline set up, and the boys - and I! - are certainly grateful. Ryan got a calling about a month ago too. He's been called to Primary, team teaching the CTR 7s - Baptism Year, my favorite). His team teacher is also Bro Williams, so the kids call one Bald Williams and the other Hairy Williams. You decide who is who. Lol. We celebrated Father's Day a week late because of the move. He got a new Weber Grill (which he's been asking for since we moved to Illinois). We've been enjoying steaks and burgers each weekend since.

LINDSEY

Mother's Day 2014

I'm keeping busy with settling us in, unpacking and organizing. The big boys are in swim lessons every day this week and next, and we are headed to Utah the end of next week. We're excited to see some old friends from our Madison days, as well as my sister and Ryan's. The boys will get to see seven cousins in all. I still don't have a calling, which I was really enjoying, but now I am starting to worry says something about my testimony. Our new neighborhood has pool access in a neighboring neighborhood, so that has kept our afternoons nice and full. I'm also spending a good deal of time dreaming of decorating this new place. We have a HomeGoods, and I now understand what everyone was so excited about.

COLLIN

Preschool Graduation (front center, white shirt/khaki shorts)

Collin will start kindergarten in just a few short weeks (6?). He loves to go to the school's playground and pretend he's at recess (it's right across the street). He's really into writing lately, and he leaves little notes around the house. All his "sentences" are just first letters. For example, I'll find a post-it on the door jamb to the basement that says, "NTYOAOFYO." Don't you know what that means? Translation: "No 3-year-olds allowed. Only 5-year-olds." Oh, yes, it's great fun. He's also becoming a little engineer, taking things apart and trying to build something new. One of the trees in our new house had a moisture sensor that was broken. Using screw drivers, he took it all apart and now he's begging Ryan to turn it into a "temperature sensor" (aka thermometer). Unfortunately, for all his creativity and brains, many of his ideas are neither reasonable nor practical, and he gets quite upset when we tell him so. He loves having his own room on his own floor with his own bathroom. And, joy of all joys, he has discovered sleeping in! If we stay up late for an activity, he actually sleeps past 6am! For the month of June, he has enjoyed taking a sports class each Monday where they explore two new sports each week. His favorites so far have been baseball and soccer. (Though he may have only chosen the latter because he is a Mommy-pleaser.) Yesterday was his first day of swim lessons. He was braver than I expected, but he still doesn't like to get his face or ears wet. He has become a budding artist too, leaving drawings and coloring in his wake.

BRENNAN

Top of Horsetooth Rock (April)

Brennan has also been taking sports class and swim lessons. He has been very hesitant with swimming. He even got mad at the teacher today (who tricked him into the cold water), and then wouldn't do anything else the rest of class. He's always been one to hold a grudge. His favorite sports have been football, baseball and basketball. He is a surprisingly fast runner and well-coordinated with each skill. (He certainly didn't get any of that from me.) He has been really into pretend lately too. He loves "exploring," when he draws a map on paper and sneaks around the house with a backpack on. He's unhappily adjusting to having his own room, but the purple walls have definitely helped. He is still up early, no matter how tired he is. Last Saturday we actually gave him a nap at 9am! He claims to be afraid of everything: the dark (at noon with the blinds closed), heights (sitting on the barstools), dogs (on a leash), water (in the 1 ft baby pool), going fast in the stroller (lol), etc. I think he is just seeking attention. He's super attached to his dad, which has made the recent business trips even more difficult. He has entered that adorable 3-year-old stage of making funny observations using limited vocabulary and information. It's my favorite. For instance, last week we had a really bad hail storm. A car in the grocery store parking lot's back window was shattered and lying on the back dash. He said he thought a robber had tried to break in and used a magic stick to break the glass. Cute imagination.

ETHAN

Ethan figured out the army crawl yesterday, but he's still rocking back and forth for the real thing. He has four teeth - two cute little ones on the bottom, and two MASSIVE top ones. He's still super chunky and very smiley. Everyone (not just moms and grandmas either; preschool boys, teenage boys, teenage girls, preschool girls) say how cute he is. And he really is. His smile is out of control. He does seem to be developing a naughty, teasing personality. Heaven help us. He has this evil giggle he uses when he does something he knows will annoy his brothers. Collin said one day, "Oh no. Another Brennan!" It was hysterical. But seriously, hold on tight. He's not been sleeping well this past week. I'm hoping it's a short-lived phase, since we'll all be sleeping together on vacation next week. He's also not nursing well - only 3-4 times per day, sometimes only on one side even after a long stretch (like overnight) and never more than 5 minutes. It's painful for Mom, to say the least. He's a real trooper running his brothers all over town, eating baby food wherever we may be, and napping in his car seat often. Guess that's the story of being the youngest.

CONCLUSION

And there it all is. I hate that when life gets busy that I miss my kids growing up on me. It is all happening so fast. Why can't life slow down to that interminable pace of middle school and high school when a school year felt like an eternity? I'd love years to last that long now.

Congratulations if you made it this far reading this novel. If you haven't noticed, I have done very little exploring of this new state we now can call home. I'm sure it's a great place to live and vacation, but I think it'll take having visitors here in order to force me to make the time to see it (hint, hint).

Happy Fourth!