At home + 3!

So, after what seemed like FOREVER on the road (it was literally an ENTIRE month), we FINALLY arrived back home. Overall, we travelled a grand total of 5,600 miles-and nearly half of those miles were with three boys-6,7,&9. Can we say that the fact that we arrived back home in one piece is a MIRACLE! Thank you dear little men for being such angels on our LOOOOOOONG road trip. We don't have any pictures in transit, but here are some from our first adventure.

We took our little men to the beach. And, being the crazy auntie I am, dared them to stick their feet in the ocean to see just how cold it was. And here is their cute response. THEY ACCEPTED the silly goons. But this experience gave me a few of my favorite moments while Rylan, Trevan, and Brayden were here. Have fun along with them!

And P.S. PLEASE pardon the poor phone photography. We'd just discovered my camera was broken. :( But, these are still pretty cute!

"This is the ocean???? It's not cold!"


And about one minute later...














"It's freakin' FREEZIN'! And my toes are gonna fall off!" (My favorite Braydenism of the ENTIRE trip)

We love where we live!

Return to UT-finale

Okay, so this post is just a bunch of fun random things that happened while we were in UT. And just so you know, the soccer video you will see...well that is the last photographic/cinematic clip my camera ever took. :( But at least I got it in right?? And now, while we will try to fix my blue baby (outcome looks grim-as the 8 ball would say), Dad's camera is the sole operator in our household. Isn't that just sad???? My conclusion is-I need a new super hyped up Kim camera wanna be. But anyway...enough of that tangent. While we were in UT, Kim's boys got to sport a handsome new look. Wanna see? Well, I'm glad you do-because here are three of the cutest boys EVER! And, here are six of the twenty (almost twenty-two...aren't I a lucky auntie?) cutest kids EVER! Poor Lani is our lone girl...but you know, I don't think she minded one bit. It was so cute. Okay, among other things, most of what was done was play, Play, and PLAY. It was fun to be woken up EVERY morning by happy kiddoes. Don't get me wrong, I don't much care for being woken up, but if I must be, this is the way to do it. Happy morning kids = smiling morning Auntie...most of the time.
And last, but not least, since we got to practice Baseball with Uncle Aaron, we absolutely HAD to play soccer with Auntie Liza in the back yard. I even joined in on this one, but mercifully you don't have to see THAT. Hope you enjoy!

Return to UT, Part II...with LOTS of pictures!

Our trip in UT the second time was so much fun that it takes multiple posts to describe. One of the boys' favorite times there was thanks to Eliza's tremendously sweet cousins, Sasha, Paul, Lexi,Clairee, and Emme. Clairee, I think I remember correctly, had a birthda party, which she invited all of us to. Quite unexpectedly, the Gomez Family had a whole clan of extra guests. They were so sweet in making sure the boys were included as if it had always been a part of the plan. And let me tell you, they had a FABULOUS time playing bandits and taking their turn at roping, riding, and the whole nine yards. Little Alana was quite the natural! Thanks Gomez Family for making us feel special. And thanks to the Cothrans again and again. We won't be able to say it enough for all you did for us! We love you guys LOTS! Enjoy our pics...and even a video or two!

Return to UT-addendum...I found videos!!!!

So, on our way back from TX (after my car was taken and the breakup), we were blessed enough to have the Cothrans let us sojourn there again. This time was also for about a week. We hadn't planned to bug them that long, but thanks to the IRS, had to impose on their hospitality for an extra couple days. Thank you guys so much for making us feel welcome and wanted even then! We loved playing with you. And so did the cousins. There was so much fun to be had while we were in UT that this may just be my longest post EVER (at least until the ORCA post later). First on the SUPER fun list was a baseball lesson from Uncle Aaron. It was so stinkin cute! I'm soooooooo glad to have found the video to go along. So, now they join the super cute pictures. Yay!!!!!!!

Thanks Uncle Aaron for the great lessons. We got to see how cool your advice was when we went to the Mariners game and saw some of the pros doing what you taught us! It was a blast and we can't wait to play some more!

Non-chronological Posting.

Okay, so this actually happened before Bryan's graduation, but I forgot to post it there. I'm coming to the conclusion that the blogs I post for the past two months may not be in chronological order, but they will at least be published. So, forgive my lack of organization, and please enjoy them anyway!

When we knew for sure that we were headed to TX for B's graduation, we called Aaron and Eliza who were kind enough to let us mooch off of them for about a week. We had fun with late night games, especially Spades (thanks Aaron for trying to teach me the finer skills of the game). We also SUPER loved seeing the kids and having play time.

Mom and Ammon were especially cute, and I have photos to prove it. Enjoy the cute and cudly scene.

B's Graduation

I apologize for the poor quality, but something is better than nothing!

So, almost ten years to the day after I bid adieu to one of the more painful experiences of my life, I was able to watch Bryan walk across the stage as he graduated from the same place I left. So, Smithson Valley High School has now seen three of our family close their doors for the last time. I think I speak for all of us when I say, "HALLELUJAH!" Congrats B! Love ya man.

I'm Repenting.

So, it has been nearly two months since I've even posted anything on here. I figure it is time to alter that sad truth, and to apologize for being so remiss. Life has had its ups and downs over the past while. A brief list includes the following.

1.)Saying goodbye to my Jetta which was repossessed because I moved out of state with it. Lame, but true. The owners who bought out my contract stated it was against their policy to allow their vehicles out of state. It didn't matter that the loan was over half finished. It didn't matter that I had a solid foundation with the company. It didn't matter that they would make more money by letting me keep it out of state and pay out the term of the loan. What did matter is where all of those things were happening. Stupid, but true.

2.)Saying goodbye to a serious relationship of eight months. That was a killer for me, but I know it needed to happen, so it did. I trust that Heavenly Father has someone else in mind that is even better. Someone who won't ditch me on Valentine's Day. Someone who won't totally drop off the planet for a week at a time and not let me know why. Someone who will actually take the time out to see me after a three month separation. Soemone willing to make me the unexpendable one. So, yeah. Another painful thing.

3.)A delay in getting home because of a HUGE mistake made by the IRS. Looooong story short, had just enough money released to get home! Thank goodness for Heaven's blessings!

So, yeah. That was actually just a couple weeks. And the first couple weeks since the blogging lapse. So, there's more to come. It may just take about twenty more posts, which I'll try and get to tonight and tomorrow. So...thanks for allowing me to repent and hope you'll forgive me-again.