"Annual" Birthday Bonfire

We are 33! 

We hosted our annual (Can it still be called that when it's in another state and has none of the same invitees?) smores birthday night. We made the food mostly potluck, and it was perfect. There's was tons to eat and was a really good time.

We hired a contractor in July to build us a cover for our back patio, and despite all the promises that it'd be finished in time for the party  (and a contract!), it was not. They gave us a string of outdoor lights as a consolation prize. Joke was on us. They also took down all the scaffolding and ladders and cleaned up a bit for the evening. Thanks?

We got lots of funny comments about its strange shape... and the holes in the house. ;-)

I'll post full before and after pics when it's finished... if that ever happens.

In a slight change from the past, we did a traditional cake, since my actual birthday was on the day of the party. It was fun to have candles and doing the whole singing thing.

Yikes! Look at all that smoke.

  Let our Family Birthday Season begin!

Back to School

Collin (Kindergarten - August 21, 2014 - Mrs Eddy)

Brothers

Brothers

Walking to school... with a swing in his step

With Mrs Eddy, his teacher

Brennan (3-year-old Preschool - September 4, 2014 - Mrs Fagan)

Brothers

In front of the school

In the hall waiting to go in

Mom? Who's that?

Welcome Tressia!

I had the privilege of going to Utah to help my sister's family while she had her third baby girl the beginning of this month.

It all began with our 8-hour drive. The kids were kept in line with sucker-bribery. You know you've all done the same thing! I snapped this picture while driving, so sorry for the poor aim. Ethan did well with pretzel sticks and his blankie corners to suck on. Collin helped out in the middle, and things really did go miraculously well.

Except for almost getting struck by lightning (seriously, it was nuts), flooded roads and lots of construction, the trip was pretty smooth. The big boys did get into a few kicking and punching fights, but nothing out of the ordinary... unfortunately.

I arrived about 4:30 Tuesday afternoon, and Kim left for the hospital before midnight that night. Though I'll admit Wednesday morning was a rough introduction to life with five kids (7, 5, 3-year-old "twins," and 9 months), we all survived and it only got easier after the rough start. My brother-in-law popped in and out a few times, but I was basically on my own until Kim was discharged Saturday morning. Good thing Kim left the fridge stocked!

Tressia was born at 9am on Wednesday morning. She is beautiful and perfect. I got to go and visit her on Thursday afternoon when Rich came home for "quiet time."

While I was there, I took all the kiddos on just a few outings. Here were all are piled into my van. Comical huh?

I can't believe people really have this many of their own kids. (My mom is one of them!)

On Friday morning we went to Bridal Veil Falls. It was beautiful, and much nicer than it was eight years ago when I used to bike the trail from Orem. There's a fish pond for feeding next to the nice trail. The water was cool and nice to soak our feet in. The kids enjoyed a little rock climbing too. Doesn't it look like we had fun? 

In all honesty, it was pretty much a total disaster. Collin ran away screaming and crying twice because dogs were walking along the paths, on leashes of course. And Brennan screamed part way up the Falls for about ten minutes because he wanted me to carry him up higher. I got lots of awful looks from other parents. It wasn't very fun, but the pictures tell a different story. Brennan is actually shrieking in this one. 

On Saturday morning we went to the local splash pad. It was AMAZING! They have a playground right next to a nice concrete "stream" and lots of fountains. I was super impressed.

See, looks like a lot of fun, right?  Unfortunately, there was a dog asleep with its owner under a tree (homeless?), on a leash of course, and Collin stayed at the top of the play structure more than half the time we were there. After an hour, I finally had to climb to the top, grab him, sit at the top of the slide, literally force him on my lap, and down we came. Yep, lots of onlookers thought I was abusing him as he screamed and screamed. After forcing him down, he ate his lunch and joined the fun. Sigh.

Other than those outings, we spent a lot of time at the house - jumping on the trampoline, riding different wheels, swinging, drawing and playing play dough. The kids really got into playing pet store and pizza delivery which was cute to watch.

In case you think Eefie didn't come along (as his absence is evident in all the previous photos), here he is enjoying his favorite activity: getting bounced on the trampoline.

Of course, this picture doesn't tell the real story either. Ethan decided to wake up about every two hours every night. Collin, Ethan and I were all sharing a room, so Brennan could sleep with all the lights on in his room (says he's afraid of the dark). One night Ethan was screaming at 10pm (when I managed to ignore him), 12midnight (when I changed his poopy diaper), 1am (when I changed his poopy diaper AGAIN and nursed him), and 4am (when I nursed him again). And in case you are wondering, he hasn't had a poopy nighttime diaper in probably seven months, and never wakes more than once during the night. It was AWFUL. I've never been so tired. This particular night was not the exception either. It just kept happening night after night. 

Another fun thing we did while being in town were have all my parents' grandchildren Skype with my parents in the Philippines. Here they all are (minus brand-new Tressia) singing Primary songs on the webcam.

Yep, there's seven now! Morello progeny.

I also managed to run to Provo on my last day to hang with my old friend from Madison. My kids and hers are all about the same age (within a few months).

Cute huh? Think this picture tells the whole story? Nope. Collin had just finished freaking out. I don't even remember what we did, but I had to put him into time out for something, and he yelled and screamed and called me names for several minutes. Oh yeah.

So, this post is dedicated to my friend Jennifer, who has requested to know what "really is going on." And this blog post is definitely about "keepin' it real." Did we have a good trip? Definitely.

Were the kids angels? No way. Did they behave about as I'd expect? Yep. 

I'm a real mom now. I guess three (or maybe five, lol) really is the hump to for-real motherhood.

Flashback Friday

A long time ago,

(11 years)

in a faraway place,

(Arches National Park, Windows lookout)

Two almost-strangers intercepted.

And the rest is history.

July 2014

April 2003
My parents had come to Utah to celebrate my brother Sean's BYU graduation. As part of their long weekend, they took all their BYU student-children down to Moab and Arches National Park. We did a couple short strolls, including Windows lookout.

The following weekend - my parents were gone by then of course - I was back in Provo and noticed that a boy who I thought was cute had now parked his car across the street from our complex at an old rundown house instead of in his usual spot out my apartment window. (I may have been slightly stalker-ish...) That particular evening, I felt strangely pushed there by a force other than my own. I knocked on his door about 9pm. Luckily, he answered and didn't have a date over.

I said, "I saw your car parked over here. Have you moved?"

And he replied, "Yeah. So what did you think of Arches?"

I was shocked. "How do you know I was at Arches last weekend?"

He invited me into his awful living room, and we talked for a few hours on his awful couch. First, of course, we talked about Arches. The previous weekend this cute boy in my ward, Ryan Williams, had been training for his coming summer job as a tour guide to Japanese visitors. He happened to be headed towards the Windows lookout as my family was headed back to the parking lot.

I did not see him that day at Arches, but he saw me and said nothing.

After we sorted out the Arches "coincidence," we talked about just about everything - growing up, family, majors. We immediately felt comfortable together, and ended up spending much of the rest of the weekend together.

The following Monday, Ryan left to live in Las Vegas for the summer for this tour guide job. Because of my visit that evening and our immediate connection, we spoke frequently all summer and visited each other as often as we could.

By fall when he returned, we were engaged... and the house he now rented had been switched into another ward's boundaries. If I hadn't stopped by that night, we would have missed each other.

And all because we were both at the Windows lookout at Arches National Park at the same moment in April 2003.

***

Of course, during our trip to Arches last week we had to stop by the Windows lookout.

Fun story?

Milestones

COLLIN
This 5-1/2 year-old lost his first tooth!

It has been super wiggly since mid-May, and he quit eating with or brushing it. When we got home from vacation Thursday, I saw a black spot on the tooth and gum, and I freaked out. I was worried it was going to rot the permanent tooth underneath.

Luckily, Super Dad coaxed him into letting him tie a string around it that night, and... YANK! It was out. Thank goodness. We had corn on the cob to celebrate.

BRENNAN
This 3-1/2 year-old is - I say this cautiously - potty trained!

I have been trying and trying for the last four months to get this kid out of diapers, but he is super stubborn. He doesn't do anything that makes Mom happy.

So I read "Potty Training in One Day," and enlisted Super Dad (sensing a theme to this post?) to spend all day Saturday having potty parties. They drank sugar-filled juices and pops all day and ate candy after each success. Part of the book's idea was also that Brennan potty-trained his Curious George, because he is his "daddy." The other idea from the book was that after each accident Brennan had to do five "practice runs" pretending from different parts of the house that he needed to go and running as fast as he could to the toilet, removing his underwear, sitting on the toilet, dressing again and leaving. It was a great logical consequence for my little man.

Obviously, all the sugar consumption was completely against my thinking, but "my thinking" (sticker charts, cleaning up the mess, date rewards) had totally failed numerous times. Anyway, it worked and it's sticking so far, so I'd say with some kids (who are strong-willed and sugar-holics), it works.

ETHAN
This 9-month old can crawl AND has six teeth!

Eefie is 9 months today. Today's the day he's been "out for as long as he was in." He's adorable but certainly has developed an opinion. He knows what he wants, and he does all he can to get it. Since vacation, he screams each time I put him in his car seat, but hopefully that'll wear off at some point. He is barely nursing (3 times per day, just one side for 5 mins), but loves eating baby food and Cheerios. He sleeps 7pm - 5:30am and takes two 2-hour naps. He is probably my most curious baby so far. Yesterday I was trying to vacuum, and he kept crawling into the path trying to touch the light on the front. All my other children have been petrified by the loud noise, but he's not one to let fear get in his way. He grabs at everything and keeping him out of trouble has become my full-time job. He also puts everything into his mouth, which is to be expected at this age, but "everything" at our house (due to having older brothers) includes teeny legos, magnets, and - my worst find yet - a peanut. Man, I hope I can keep this little guy safe.

Utah Vacation

We've been planning to visit Utah this summer since before last summer, which was WAY before any thoughts of moving to the mountain west. Here's what we ended up cramming into our long-weekend trip.

Friday: Drive to Salt Lake & Temple Square
We started out early Friday morning and drove to Salt Lake. We ended up arriving about 3pm, and our hotel pool was disappointing, so we decided to walk to Temple Square. Unfortunately, nine blocks was much further in real life than it looked on the map, and the heat threatened our vacation giddiness. We did enjoy walking around for a bit though.

Then we headed across the street to the downtown mall. We thought we'd grab a quick bite in the basement food court and then catch TRAX back to our hotel. Imagine our surprise when we saw City Creek Mall! It is gorgeous. The boys played in the fountains, and we finally found the food court.

Saturday: Temple Square, Lunch with Madison Neighbor, Madison Ward Reunion & Drive to Springville
The boys asked us in the morning if we could return to Temple Square. They really loved the Christus statue and wanted to see it again. Who can deny a sweet plea like that? So we bought our TRAX passes (no attempt at walking this day, lol) and headed back over first thing in the morning.

Ethan needed a nap and due to packing-space limitations, we only had the umbrella stroller which isn't very conducive to napping. He was not a very happy traveling companion this morning. The boys and I got to check out both visitors centers, the tabernacle, and the assembly hall. Ryan walked with Eefie and finally got him to fall asleep as we boarded TRAX to return to our car.

Next, we drove to Sugar House to visit our neighbors from Madison. Eric, the husband, was working on his PhD at Wisconsin while Ryan was doing his masters, and they lived across the patio from us. Even though they aren't members, Eric is now working on his post-doc at the U. Unfortunately their kiddos (who were the ages of ours back in our Madison days) were out of town visiting their grandparents and we missed them.

After lunch (and a pretty decent nap for Eefie), we headed to South Jordan for our Madison Ward Reunion. Wondering why it was being held in Utah? Oddly, many of the students in our ward live and work in Utah now, and many others arranged their family vacations to coincide with this reunion (like us). It was great fun to see so many old friends, and see how each of our families has multiplied exceedingly.

Brennan fell asleep on the couch in the midst of the chaos, but woke up a total grump, and Collin was even worse. We left about 7pm to head to my sister's house an hour away. It was a late night, since the kiddos cheered right up when they saw their cousins. They really do get along super well. This was one long (and super fun!) day.

Sunday: Church & Dinner with Ohio Friend
Sunday morning came early, since the adults stayed up until 2am talking. We went to church, napped and had dinner. My family grew up with the Luce family in Ohio, and Rachel lives in Sandy. She came over for dinner with her two little girls who I had never met  (her husband was on a business trip). She had never met any of my kids either, and they all had a great time playing and then roasting marshmallows. We didn't say our farewells until after 9pm, and it was another super late night for us and the kids. So fun to get to see Rach and meet her adorable little girls!

Monday: BYU Tour & Driving to St George
Monday morning we said goodbye to Kim's family and headed to BYU. Ryan and I hadn't been to campus since he graduated in 2006, and many things have changed! It was fun to show the kids campus, but it was hot and they were tired and there was quite a bit of whining.

We were able to meet up with our Madison friend Jennifer - whose husband is a professor there now - and her three kids, and she gave us a great tour, filling us in on the Provo gossip.

After lunch in the Cougar Eat (and more goodbyes), we drove by the apartment complex we met at (which used to be ritzy and now looks run-down) and the car garage Ryan worked at the first summer we were married (which really was the start of his trajectory of working with engines). More reminiscing.

Then we headed out of Provo and started the long drive to St George. We arrived about 5pm and met Ryan's sister Emily at the condo they were at vacationing. We were able to swim, which was a blessing since it was over 100 degrees. We got takeout Mexican (delicious) and made the kids (she has five now plus our three) mac and cheese. I think we all made it to bed by 11pm. The late nights were really catching up with us by this point. So fun to meet up and chat with more family!

Tuesday: Red Cliffs & Driving to Moab
We had originally planned to hike at Zion's, but the late nights, heat and long-ish drive squashed that plan. We found a nice short hike which advertised pools for the kids to splash in along the route. Unfortunately, only two small pools held any water, and it was stagnant and buggy. This hike was HOT.

 

 
After suffering through this one, we got in the car to drive to Moab. We arrived about 6pm and discovered another disappointing hotel pool. (Having a neighborhood pool has apparently spoiled us.) We headed to a nice dinner in town and gave the kids a much-needed bath before bed. I think we were all out by 9pm. Much-needed rest.

Wednesday: Arches & Driving Home
Wednesday morning we tried to get moving early to beat the heat, so we were all fed, packed up, and checked out of the hotel before 8am. We decided we'd hike Delicate Arch first, and then see if we had any juice left afterwards. (This was a good idea since we had no juice left at all and didn't make it anywhere else.)

We were blessed with some cloud-cover and then a nice sprinkling rain on the way up, and I think that's the only reason we were able to make it. The heat was really killer. It was super awesome at the top though, so that made my fear of heights and the whining from the kids on the way down a little more bearable.

By the time we got back to the car, we just headed home. We hit a bad thunderstorm somewhere in the mountains west of Denver. We kept hydro-planing, and it was pretty scary. We didn't make it home until after 9pm. We all crashed into bed.

Conclusion 
We really managed to cram a lot into our few days. Ryan had to return to work bright and early Thursday morning (he's running low on vacation days because of our most recent move). I would like to make it known that Utah is a truly beautiful state. Their mountains are incredible, and the red-rock and its nutso formations are like what I suspect it is like on Mars. I think you have to leave (and not be an anti-Utah, BYU student) in order to appreciate its natural awesomeness. I'm glad we were able to take the boys and share with them some of our college days and friends. Good to see so many of you too!

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!

An Update

We bought a house!

After a month of meeting with spec home builders and custom home builders, we decided we didn't want to be house-poor and that we'd just buy an existing home for now. So we called our landlord, and she said that if we wanted to get out of our contract early (original end date was March 15, 2015) then we needed to be out before June 15th. A bit of a time crunch, to say the least.

So after having four houses sold out from under us in just a week (those are good stories), we hired a realtor and three days later: An accepted offer! Our close date is June 13th. Just in time.

A little about the house... It's in this same ward, which I wanted. It also has a decent-sized backyard, which is hard to come by in these parts. It has a two-tiered back patio with mountain views, which we love too.  The fenced yard backs up to what they call a "green belt," which is a shared grassy space cared for by our HOA fees. It is right across the street from a high-rated elementary school, and in the high school region that everyone is dying to get into. It was built in 2011, so it's fairly new which I wanted. Its floor plan is perfect for us - super open - but it doesn't have all the upgrades of the homes around it (tile floor, hardwood, wainscoting, covered patio, finished basement, granite counters, etc), so we have our work cut out for us. Nothing new there though. It has three bedrooms upstairs, and one in the basement. I wanted four altogether, but we couldn't swing the expense, so this will have to do. It's a little bit out in the country and away from the traffic of town, so that's like our Illinois home too. We can hardly believe our good fortune.

The blessing is that we could actually afford this one, despite its perfect location, because it wasn't upgraded to the sky! Perfect for us.

Lots to do around here with packing and moving AGAIN, but it'll be worth it this time. See you in a month!