Since I have been unable to keep up with monthly updates
since moving (I felt like a single mother sometimes), I will wrap up this year and begin the next in one post. This last 7 months has definitely been a trial I wasn’t
expecting. But so much good has come from it!! We have all realized the
importance of a family being united and being together. We have come to realize
how blessed we are to have loving family in our lives. Chelise and Ron completely took me and the girls under their wings and literally bent over
backwards to help us through this and have provided the solidarity that we
needed. I know that we could have made it without them (I can’t even begin to
imagine how) but I definitely would have shed a lot more tears and had a lot
more grey hair without them among other catastrophic things. I will never be
able to begin explaining my gratitude for them and for the things that they
have done for us.
We did finally find a place to rent in Richfield, although
we were hoping to find one somewhere in Elsinore or close to there. It is actually owned by the tribe that I work
for and will eventually be torn down to build a new clinic but the price is
right and will work for a while. We are hoping that Colby will be able to
secure a job in the area and then we will rent for a 3-4 years before,
hopefully, building somewhere. So we are looking at moving another 2 times at
least….which sucks!! Ha ha.
October- we spent some time up at the RV park with Colby for
one of the weekends and otherwise prepped for Halloween. Hayden decided she
wanted to be a tiger so we went with a “Lion, tiger, bear, OH MY!” theme for
the family. Hanna was the cutest little polar bear and Charlie pulled off the
lion look pretty well. Colby and I simply had OH and MY written on our shirts. The
girls went trick or treating with the Seely girls then we went to the Elsinore
trunk or treat. Although Hanna was pretty cranky because of popping a few teeth
we had a ball. My dad came over and visited that night too and the girls loved
having grandpa there and showing him their costumes.
November- we got a couple good snow storms in November that
made my drives to and from work a little sketchy….but I made it eventually.
Colby celebrated his DIRTY THIRTY in true student fashion…..no party and lucky
enough to get an ice cream cake! The girls loved singing Happy Birthday to him
and helping him unwrap his presents. We loved being able to go to Delta for
Thanksgiving. As always, the food was delicious!! We all ate WAY too much!
December flew by and was filled with Christmas prep and
moving our stuff into that rental. I had them rip up the carpet because it was
pretty disgusting and I painted the subfloor and it turned out okay……but it was
a lot of work! The girls got to see the happenings of Brody and Riley’s elf
Christopher over the month which was fun. We went to Cedar one of the weekends
because it was my work Christmas party down there and my friend, Amanda, was
blessing her baby and her Tayte was getting baptized. I was so happy that it
was happening the weekend we were down there! We got to stay in the apartment
that the U had supplied Colby while he was doing his Women’s Health rotation
with Dr. Gatherum down there throughout December. We also got to go to dinner
with my dad’s girlfriend Brynn and her daughter Megan- then they took us to see
some Christmas lights. It was so fun!! Christmas sure came in a hurry and was a
whirlwind and left in a hurry!! I really thought that Hanna would sit on
Santa’s lap but she got scared and wouldn’t do it. I could tell that Hayden was
kinda nervous but she marched right up there and told him, shyly, what she
wanted. They both slept in pretty good on Christmas morning and we finally woke
Hanna up around 8 to go see the goods. I still can’t believe that it was two
years ago that we spent Christmas morning in a labor and delivery room. She was
so excited it was her “birfday” she wanted nothing to do with her candles
either so her sister had to blow them out.
January- our big outing in January was we went up to the Midway Ice Castles with Brian and Kristy and the kids. They got to see Elsa, go swimming in the hotel pool, and spent quality time with the Moody cousins! It was a hoot! Maisa had her new baby George Whit and he is adorable!! He was teeny tiny and Quinn didn't know what to think of him at first but I'm sure she'll adjust soon.
February was spent in the moving process (Colby down to Richfield and us from Elsinore into Richfield). We got Colby's trailer sold and made a couple thousand on it- thank goodness!
March- we went car shopping, attended my grandmother's funeral, had Easter and my birthday!
Colby: Colby is now on to his second to last semester as a
student FOREVER!!!! YAY!! This fall he had family practice, general surgery,
and OBGYN rotations. And thus far this spring he has had and ER at Utah Valley
Regional, Pediatrics in Salt Lake, and ER back in RICHFIELD!!!! He has been
super fortunate and all of his preceptors thus far have been phenomenal! He has
loved being with patients and he gets great reviews after each rotation and
each one has expressed an interest in him getting them a resume once he is
done. He also FINISHED on his big Master’s project and he is ecstatic to get
that out of the way. He turned the dirty thirty in November, I wish we could have had a big party but maybe on his fortieth we'll do something big!! He finally got to
move down the beginning of March and it has been amazing being a family again!!
Megan: I have settled in to my new job. Finally finished my
probation at the end of February …..6 month probation is forever! I am loving
working with the patients in Kanosh. Such good people. I was completely spoiled
by Chelise while living with them. I simply give her a tiny bit of grocery
money and she cooked meals and I simply sat down and ate when I got home then
helped clean up. I swear once we moved into the Richfield house full-time I didn’t
remember how to prepare meals for my family! The girls and I are continued
staying in Elsinore on the weeknights until Colby moved down for good in March.
It was just more convenient because Hanna could just stay asleep when I get
Hayden off onto the bus and go to work. But I’m sure it was nice for Chelise
and Ronnie to not have to deal with us on the weekends too!! It was nice to get moved into our "new to us" place and get out of the Sawyers' hair however, Chel is still kind enough to keep watching the girls for us! I wrecked my white cobalt at the end of February. It unfortunately totaled it- luckily I wasn't hurt at all! I got an AWD Equinox to replace it and it does much better in the snow. My sweet grandma Donna passed away on St Patricks day. Although it was so emotional and sad, it was so comforting to know that she is at peace and she has gained her passport to the Celestial Kingdom. She loved and still loves all of us so much! It was so nice to reconnect with all of my relatives!
Hayden: She is blossoming! She is very thoughtful and always
wanting to make cards for us or give us something. She asks what chores she can
do. She is not as defiant as she used to be….I can tell that she truly wants to
behave and gets mad at herself when she does something wrong. She likes to help
me change Hanna’s bum (only when she has peed) and help her get her jammies on.
She is very good at asking before she does something. Like some Friday and
Saturday nights she’ll ask if it is okay if she comes and gets the iPad to play
it so that we can sleep in-----which I am totally fine with! Ha ha. She asked
me every weeknight that Colby was away if it is okay if she sleeps with me and
snuggles. When we first moved in with Chelise I wouldn’t let her because I
thought that she would want to sleep with us even on the weekends—now I know
that she knows the difference so I like it that she wants to snuggle me and I
think it’s adorable that she asks me every night if it is okay. She still does
not like to be surprised and freezes up when she is though. One morning I
wasn’t paying attention and the bus got very close to the bus stop before I
told the kids they could get out and she panicked and froze then I had to drag
her to the bus. But, as long as she has ample warning and knows what to expect
she loves riding the bus and going to school and doesn’t like it when she has
to miss a day. She did get strep…again…this month and had to miss two days and
she was pretty sad about it. She loves learning new words and it is so fun to
watch her learning to read. It is amazing how fast they catch on to things! She
had her cute little Kindergarten program and I swear it was the cutest thing in
the entire world. She was the third little pig that built her house of bricks.
She did great even though she was a little nervous that morning. After she was
done she did this cute little dance and I’m sure it was her celebratory dance
so proud of herself for completing her part!
Hanna: She now has a mouth full of teeth and even popped
through the last two on the bottom. She didn’t acted nearly as cranky this go
round as the last. She transitioned down to one nap towards the end of
September which has been fine….I always dread dropping that second nap but it
is nice to free up the schedule a little for other things. But now she sleeps
in until 9 in the mornings which is great for the weekends!! She is getting
quite the vocabulary. I am amazed at how fast she learns to speak. She is kind
of funny and adds a shhh to the beginning of some of her words like instead of
saying “mine” she says “shhmine” haha. One of my favorite phrases that she says
is, “Are you kidding me?!?” She is also saying “you’re mean mom!” and “you
doofus!” (thanks to dad). She is still just as sweet as a button unless Riley
gets too close then she gets on the defense and her arms automatically starts
swinging and a high pitched squeal comes out!! Those two pester each other
relentlessly when they are together then miss each other when they are a part!
She is acting like she is ready to start potty training. She loves to sit on
the potty but after attempting for a weekend I decided to wait for a few more
months. I love watching her love her babies. She will rock them and say “shh
shh shh” she will wrap them up and put them “ni night.” She is starting to love
animals more but still only from a distance. She does not want to get close
unless it’s a dog or a cat! Although she talks about the mules and chickens at
“bumpa Ricks” all the time and even does an adorable “hee haw”!!! I can still
get her to snuggle me a little before bed as long as she has her blanket, a
sippy, and she can twirl her little blonde hair. I absolutely love it!
