Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Fun Day

Yesterday Reagan began the day on the wrong side of the bed at 6 am. She is the one who likes to sleep in and given the oppurtunity has been known to sleep until 10am. I called her Grumpy Gus all day and it just got worse until she could go down for a nap after lunch. Shortly after lunch I was getting her ready for bed and she lost it. I've never seen her like this. She was screaming uncontrollably and I finally got her into bed with no change. So I got her back up and she went to sleep in my arms.
But inspite of this we had a really good day. The Primary was having an activity where they were celebrating the Prophets birthdays as two of them fall on March 28th. So they had a birthday party. Daniel really liked the games muical chairs (he won both times we played with Mom's help as he had no clue what to do) and the fishing pond which was called the "School of the Prophets". I had a horrible time keeping Daniel out of the birthday cake. Who's idea was it anyway to put the cake where 2 1/2 year olds can reach. One of Paul's cousins was there and was tyring to help me keep Daniel out of the cake and she noted, "He does have a little bit of his Dad in him". Later when the cut the cake Reagan couldn't get enough of it as it was chocolate. Thanks alot April for creating another chocaholic. The Activity was a cute idea and the kids had fun. I was a little nervous as I know very few people in the ward but it was fine.
Later after I got Reagan down for a nap, I was able to get one in as well and that made my day. Reagan has been having a really hard time at bedtime since we have been here and sometimes it's 10:30 before she goes to bed and then I'm up because I want a few minutes to myself or I am talking to Paul who is 2 hours behind and then I'm up at 6 or earlier with them. So a nap is the biggest treat in the world right now.
Lois' sister Kathryn came and hung blinds in our room. It was nice to see her and nice to see the blinds go up. My mother in law' house is right in front of the family buisness and there are big parking lot lights right outside our window, so at night it's very bright.
Then at the end of the day the kids and I stopped by my cousin Wendell's house. He's about a mile away and the kids had a blast. Wendell was the only one we really saw but he was so sweet with the kids we got to see their new puppies which had Daniel giggling everytime they let out little puppy bark and the big dogs would lick him to death. Then he got to feed the horses and go in the corral with them. Wendell has a tractor just like my Dad's so Daniel climbed right up and thought he was on Grandpa's tractor. Then Wendell helped him climb the big boulders that they have in their front yard. Daniel thought that was really cool. They have a tree swing in the front yard and Reagan loved that. That's what made her giggle. She loves to swing like her Mom and Grandma Lyman. Daniel was crying when we left. I told Wendell that that was a huge compliment from Daniel as everytime we go anywhere he wants to go back to Grandma Lois' house as he has so much fun there. It was nice to see family again.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Moose



Going to work the other morning Paul came across 2 moose standing on the runway at the airport. The cops were there trying to get them to move so that the runway could be used by the planes and the moose really weren't wanting to move. Later in the morning, wether it was these same two moose or 2 more, I don't know but Paul saw 2 moose wandering outside the airport. Maybe they are trying to catch a plane to Florida. They're tired of the snow... Here's what Paul wrote of the pictures he sent-




"Here are the pictures of the moose we saw the other day. In both pictures there are two moose. The one you can see very well and the other is in the bushes next to the building." See if you can locate both of the moose.




He was told that this happens all the time. He replied, "not where I'm from!"

Thursday, March 26, 2009

What happened to Spring?

Since arriving in UT not even 2 weeks ago we have seen more snow than the entire winter in Virginia. It's snowed twice already and I believe it's going to snow again soon. We went shopping today with the kids Grandma (Lois), and her sister Carolyn in Park City at the outlet mall, and as we would get ready to walk into the store Lois and Daniel would be having snowball fights and Daniel would be giggling for all he is worth. So much fun and great memories.

And great bargains. Children's Place was clearing out their winter stuff and I got a lot of clothes for Reagan for next year because they were $1.49 a piece. You can't beat that! We also got the kids the rest of the way outfitted for summer and their Easter outfits. Reagan's dress is SO CUTE! I had such a hard time deciding because I wanted every last dress there was in Children's Place. Girl's are very dangerous for your pocket book.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

This beats Iraq

Well the temp has only been as high at 35 degrees in the last couple of days, but it sure beats 140 in the shade in Iraq. I started work yesterday and as usual with Government there was a lot of paperwork. We also got a tour of the Customs processing area at the Anchorage Port of Entry at the Airport. The other CBP Officers couldn't have been nicer to us. It was actually a good first day and it feels good to be part of this organization.

Oh yeah!! I show up and a Volcano erupts near Anchorage. You just can't let me go anywhere without something happening !!!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Paul goes to Alaska and a Volcano Erupts...

Yes, it did. Mount Redoubt which is about 26 miles from where Paul is, erupted with 5 major explosions. Check out this link for more info and pictures. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/03/mt-redoubt-erup.html
Paul's friend Adrian called him and said that Alaska was giving him an appropriate greeting. There are also alot of earthquakes in Alaska. Talk about an adventure.
Paul was sworn in as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer and started work today. He spent the weekend getting his bearings, and learning to drive in the snow again. It came back to him real fast however; as it snowed 6-8 inches in one night on him.




Here are some pictures of our family from before Paul left.
Here Calvin is giving Daniel kisses and he can't stop laughing.
And here Reagan is thinking she is going to get away with playing in the dirt. This is their favorite pastime since coming here. Unfortunately it snowed this morning and keeps trying to snow some more or they would be outside right now digging away.
The kids and I went to our new ward yesterday. There is only one other child in nursery with Daniel so they were begging for Reagan to stay and play. She was happy to oblige. I couldn't have been happier, Nursery 2 months early, Hurray!!! The down side here is that we will have to go elsewhere other than church to find some playmates for Daniel. He is really missing some of his friends back in Virginia.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Saying Goodbye















Once again we find ourselves saying goodbye to Paul. Friday, to spend time together as a family and to do something fun before we had to say goodbye we went to the Hill Air Force Base Areospace Museum. Daniel loved seeing all the airplanes and helicopters. Reagan just loved being able to run. This particular seat Reagan was very upset she didn't get to stay sitting on. She wanted to stay there all day and kept trying to go back to it. It makes her feel like a big girl. Later on in the Museum there was a pilots chair that the kids could sit in and I think that she thought it was a throne. She was determined never to leave it and screamed the rest of the way out of the Museum as she wanted to stay. It was also nap time so that didn't help.

Later that day we dropped Paul off at the airport so that he could start on his journey to Alaska. It is never easy to do this but we have done it alot. When he returns we will have spent 34 months apart of our 6 1/2 years of marriage with 2 tours in Iraq, a few months in New Orleans after Katrina and now this training.

He spent that night in Seattle with his brother Eddie and family as he had an 11 hour layover there. He had a wonderful time with family. And we hope to be able to stop there on our drive up to Alaska in August.
Yesterday he completed the trip to Anchorage. He said there was 18 inches to 2 feet of snow on the ground and it promptly started to snow again. He went into a store to get something for a few minutes and it had already snowed an inch while he was inside. Not suprising in a place where the annual snow fall is 70 inches. He said he saw tons of deer on Ft. Richardson when he went to check in with his unit. He was wishing for his bow and a big freezer.

I found my way to the grocery store and the library yesterday and worked on getting our room in order here. It's about 3/4 of the way done. I have to work on it when the kids aren't sleeping in there so it's a little sporatic.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Prelude Journey

Part one of our long journey is over. We are now here in UT.




There hasn't been anything posted on here in two weeks because things were insane trying to leave Virginia so fast. We found out we were going to Alaska on a Thursday afternoon, an hour before I left for work. I didn't return from work until Sunday night. By that time it left, one and a half weeks until we left. Thanks to very generous friends and a wonderful sister; who were able to help us by watching our kids so that we could actually accomplish something, we actually got packed up and moved for the most part on schedule. (What's one or two hours?) We set off on the road last Thursday with a very sad fairwell to Aunt April who has spoiled the kids rotten and saved our bacon so many times over the last year.



We drove about 17 hours that first day to my parents home in Missouri. Daniel dropped some of the cars he was playing with at one point while we were driving and wanted me to get them for him. I explained that I couldn't until we stopped driving. He replied, "No stop, go Grandma's house!" He was very excited to go to Grandma's house. We stayed over Friday and Saturday and left Sunday. It was really nice to have have that break in the traveling, or I do believe I would have gone insane. (As it was those last 2 hours getting here to UT I'd had enough.) Paul was so sweet and patient with the kids and I was the one losing it. Who would have thought? Daniel loved being back at Grandma and Grandpa's house. There's so much to see and do on a farm for a little boy and then when you add to it 3 Aunts and 1 dotting Uncle... When we would talk about going to Grandma Lois' house he would say, "No Grandma Lois, I stay Grandma's house!" Here are pictures of some of his activities while we were there.










Daniel on my Dad's ancient tractor, holding Hannah's violin (he has loved the violin ever since we lived with my parents last year and heard Hannah practice every day), and on the riding lawn mower. You will notice the gun in his hand. Yes, he enjoyed running around shooting the bad guys with Uncle Jonathan. What can you expect with a soldier for a Dad?


Miss Reagan had a hard time while we were there in Missouri. After being shuffled around to someone new everyday (sometimes 2 new places in a day) she was a little leary of things and just needed Mom to hold her for awhile.

We left Sunday morning with a trailer that was broken and needed to be replaced so after traiding that out for a new one we drove until about 10pm that night without further incidence. Monday we got on the road and arrived in UT about 6 pm. The kids are REALLY enjoying being here. Daniel spent the entire first day (Tuesday) outside digging in the dirt, playing basketball and went for his first 4 wheeler ride with Grandma down to feed the horse. It was a banner day for him. It also happened to be my birthday, so we ended the day with Lois taking us out to dinner for my birthday. That's all for now. Watch for more of our adventures...