Goodbyes

Last Thursday, the Shaws hosted a Bye Bye BBQ (as I liked to call it) for the Shaheens, Marchants, and Cardons. They all just graduated and are leaving us. :( We had to get together for a group picture before we left and it surprised me how big our group was! It almost looked like some big, extended family picture. And really, I guess that's exactly what it was. I would definitely consider all of these people family.

 (Had to add this one... look at these two guys with such great, and identical, taste. :)

 Bron and Megan were leaving on Saturday, so we were able to persuade them to go out to dinner one, last time, Friday night. You could kind of call us 6, the dinner group. I couldn't even count how many times we've gone to dinner together. This time we tried someplace new, called The Shores, in North Tonawanda, overlooking the river. Megan's mom, Alice, was with us, since she's helping with the move. I believe it was her, that actually teared up first as we were finishing eating. That triggered Megan, which got me going, and then Rachel. :) And now I'm crying again, just remembering it! It was SO SAD to say goodbye. During dinner, I had to ask the cheesy question... what is your favorite Buffalo memory together? We talked about the first time we met at the Shaheen's 4th of July breakfast, game nights (LATE game nights, before the kids came... those were the days :), Senecca Lake trips, Crystal Beach, lunch with the girls, bon fires with the guys.... even Alice added her favorite memory of the Letchworth Ballon Festival. I could fill pages with memories. We have shared holidays together, been there for babies being born, and mourned when a good friend passed away. We've laughed and cried and stayed up way too late talking. The friends we have made out here (and this really applies to all those families leaving this year) have made this experience something we will never forget. To quote FRIENDS, "It's like the end of an era!"

 So how can you really say goodbye?

I haven't watched Oprah in years, but I did make it a point to watch her finale last Wednesday. (It even made me cry... but then, I guess that's not very surprising!) I liked how she ended it, by saying, "I won't say goodbye, I'll just say until we meet again." And I think that's really applicable.

You don't meet people like this by chance. They are put in your life for a reason. We are better for having known them. Thank you, Bron, Megan, Dave, Crescent, Creed, Tiffany, Ryan, Rachel, Garth, Melissa, Anthony, Kristi, Thayne, Natalie (and all your great kids) and everyone else that has made Buffalo feel like home these past 3 years. To say we will miss you isn't even scratching the surface. We love you and wish you the best!

Kill me now

Before we moved to Buffalo we got a lot of  negative comments about the weather. I guess the going saying was, "No one moves TO Buffalo, just AWAY." And up until now, we probably would have disagreed. Sure the snow is annoying and the wind is biting cold and eveyone can't wait for winter to be over, but it's not THAT bad. Well this year it is! I honestly don't know how much more I can take. It's like we endure November through March, almost just holding our breath until the snow melts and we can be outside again without a snow coat. But this year winter seemed to dragged on and on and then..... the rains came. This will definitely be {the year of the rain}. Apparently we've gotten double the usual amount. And the usual amount is a lot! Spring has been miserable because of it. I've never seen so much water in my life! Rain in Arizona is refreshing, but here I feel like I'm drowning! A guy that spoke in sacrament meeting today is a counselor and he said depression is up way more in the winter when the sun doesn't shine. I totally get it. Another guy out here that is from AZ, posted these charts on Facebook this week. He also added that according to whatever weather site he was on, Buffalo had had a total of 5 sunny days so far in 2011. FIVE!

How sad is that?! We basically moved from the sunniest city to the rainiest. I remember hearing about how it rained "constantly" in Seattle when I was a kid. I literally pictured rain, non- stop and wondered if people just constantly walked around with umbrellas. Then my next thought was... why would ANYONE want to live in Seattle?!! Well Seattle sounds like a nice break right about now. I can't even describe in words what this feels like. The best comparison I can make is claustrophobia. I feel claustrophobic in this place. Like I want to jump out of my skin and run screaming as far as I can go. Have I painted a bad enough picture yet?

 And to top it all off, our "dry" basement is no longer dry. This has been my biggest fear with this house. Half of our basement is carpeted and starting last month, one corner of it has seeped water. I've tried soaking it up with towels and running fans on it, which works temporarily, until it rains again. Then it gets wet again. Well, last Friday after I got off the eliptical I noticed what looked like water damage above the baseboards, on the wall. Upon closer examination, I found mold. Yup, mold. Like fuzzy, nasty mold you see on bread. Except this time, it's growing up the wall where the water has been seeping in. I wanted to vomit.

I really, really, REALLY can't take this anymore.

Accessories

This kid loves accessories. Trav is often found snatching away headbands, purses and necklaces from Collin while he's playing at girl's houses. So it was no wonder when he locked onto hats. He would beg for one of Trav's hats and seriously not take it off for hours. One day at the park, an observative mom commented that he must have loads of hats at home since he obviously loves them so much. Nope. Sad story. This boy didn't have a single baseball hat. So that weekend we made a special trip to Target looking for a hat and they didn't sell them! Pi-shaw!  I pulled out of the parking lot thinking I was going to have to brave the mall with him, when I spied Payless. They should have hats! Oh, they sure did. Lightening McQueen and Toy Story hats galore.

 And he picked out the ugliest one.

No persuading him otherwise.

This was the hat for him.

I mean, it has Woody and Buzz on it for heaven's sakes.

What was I thinking, trying to convince him to pick a "cooler" one?

As I paid for the much too expensive accessory, I reminded myself he is only 2.

He's allowed to have a gawdy, cartoon hat if it makes him happy.

And that it does.

(P.S. this picture was taken after he hopped into the diaper box, got himself lodged and was heard screaming, "Sthtuck! I'm sthuuuuuutck!" It was quite a predicament.)

 Well now that he had the hat, he was just missing the shades. He may love sunglasses even more than hats. And since he didn't have his own, he was constantly squawking for mine. Well, after a walk last week, we were literally feet away from pushing the stroller into the garage and he threw my sunglasses (my favorite pair of course) on the ground in front of himself, where the stroller promptly crushed them into three pieces. I was livid. (This happens to be the same incident that landed him in time out in his crib, whereupon going in to get him out, he was found mid-step in the middle of his room!!! First time ever climbing out) Anway, back to story. So while at the Christmas Tree Shop this week I found him his own $3 pair of sunglasses. They might be turquoise and they might say "Follow Your Dream" on the side and they might look smashing combined with his sleevless shirt that he had to wear yesterday since all else was dirty. (But this {mid-drift} look isn't bad either.) I have one stylin' toddler. Don't be too jealous.

A Glitch

Perhaps you remember a certain, intrusive bird's nest mentioned at the end of THIS post. Well, this week we were outside and Trav finally asked if I'd like him to get rid of it. Um, yes please! Then he half muttered to himself that he wondered if any eggs were in it. Since it was too close to the ceiling to peek his head over the top, he put his phone over it and snapped a pic. Yup. Three blue eggs.

Looks like the bird's nest will remain.

I hate those nasty birds flying out of the nest so close to my head with no notice.... but I'm no baby bird killer. Sigh. Why do I have to be such a humanitarian? Or would that be birditarian?

Sister, Sis-TA!

Ready for some picture overload??!!

My younger sister Marcie came out for a whole stinkin' week! Wahoo! I was mucho excited. I had literally made a {funtastic to-do list} for while she was out, including nummy dinners. I picked her up from the airport Monday night and we caught up over some Kung Pao spaghetti. She said she sat next to a really nice, older couple on the airplane that told her they were flying out to visit their grandson, Easton. Ha! Marice told them she was flying out to visit her nephew, Weston. Too funny.

The next morning, Tuesday, we headed to the Galleria Mall to do some shopping to find tank tops to embellish with a corsage neckline. Shopping with a two year old is NOT my idea of fun, but with Marcie it was much easier. He was entertained by finding various hats and trying them on. Even still, I turned my back for two seconds and he had vanished. I kid you not, within 45 sec. he was nearly up two flights of stairs. Luckily, some kind citizens helped me locate my runaway.

 But that little escapade earned him the leash. Marcie said an older couple walked by her and happily asked, "So how long has he been on the leash?! We've had our grandson on for several weeks!"

 After putting Collin down for a nap, Marcie was nice enough to babysit while I went to the dental school to get my FIRST EVER cavity filled. I'm still in denial about it. Especially after it didn't show up on the X-rays and the supervising dentist took a look, then advised to be "very conserative" in the filling. Honestly, the worst part was just seeing the needle (it didn't hurt going in) and then getting the blasted "rubber dam" put on... the green thing for those who don't know. The procedure itself was a cinch and when the dentist came back to check his work, he did so well, she couldn't even tell which tooth he had worked on!

 Isn't he hot? I think so. I love a man in uniform :) I tried to get him to kiss me after I was all numbed up, but he wouldn't! I was embarrassing him, poor guy. He finally succumbed after making sure no one was watching. I probably should have been offended, but I understand he didn't want to look like he was getting fresh with his patient, if they didn't know who I was.

We made fish tacos for dinner with a mango avacado salsa that was DELISH! Too bad I couldn't eat with half my mouth. He did such a good job numbing me, it didn't wear off til after dinner. I don't know how many times I bit my cheek. Marcie said I was talking like I was deaf. I was complaining so much about it... it seemed I was more numb 3 hours later than I was during the procedure, that apparently Trav was secretly nervous he had paralyzed me!!! He was smart to not share his concerns until after the numbing wore off.

 That night, Rach came over and we watched the Bieber in Never Say Never. Great movie. Wished I had seen it on the big screen though. Then Marcie figuratively stabbed me in the heart and twisted the knife when she said my mom promised to buy concert tickets for her and my sisters when he comes to Phoenix next time! Argh!! Why do I live across the wretched country! Oh I hope he comes in December while I'm visiting.

On Wednesday we went to the Snyder Firestation with the Family Room group for a field trip. He was sitting in Marcie's lap great, watching the fireman put on his gear, all until he got to his mask. Then she said he kept saying, "No no no mask, no no no mask!" He actually started wimpering and I had to take him out. The only kid to do that besides the fireman's son. Greaaat. At least he overcame his fear and ended up giving the guy a high five later.

 I love Collin's face in this one.

(See that nasty, long hair? It's about to be chopped.)

Bahaha. A little cross eyed.

 Then it was to Weglemans we went, to get some SuShI. We tried the coconut shrimp and California roll ones.

That night we had all four missionaries over for dinner (Cafe Rio) and then watched an edited version of Step-brothers (not that great) and cut out the fabric for our corsage shirts.

On Thursday Trav didn't have school and the weather cooperated so we went to the zoo. But with all of us, that meant one person per seat. Good thing Marc is a twig, cuz that's about all the middle seat had room for! 

Here's Collin trying to imitate Paris Hilton. Really he just LOVES sunglasses.

Marcie tried to get him to do a pouty lip.

 Marcie was amazed by all the green and pretty trees.

 Picnic lunch.

 Collin wanted nothing to do with this rhino until he realized it wasn't real.

 Inside the rainforest jungle...

 ... the turtles seem to be enjoying themselves.

 Once the boys were napping, Marcie and I went to the mall to get pedicures. I haven't had one in over two years. Those heels needed a scrubbin' bad!

That night we finally sat down and sewed our corsage shirts and watched The Office finale.

 Ta-Da! They turned out pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. I just don't appreciate the tanness going on next to my translucent-ness.

Friday was more rain so we headed to the theater to see Rio. Ok.... DANG cute movie. I was dancin' and groovin' in my seat practically the whole time.

While the boys were sleeping, Marcie finally cute off my Rapunzel hair. I knew it was long, but after almost 5 inches came off and it was still long, I realized how bad it had gotten! Thank you Marcie! I love the new Jan Brady. :) Right after she was done cutting and styling, Trav called for me to pick him up. I thought for sure he'd notice my hair. I know it's stereotypical for a guy not to notice, but he usually does. Nope! He got in, we talked, got home and he saw the scissors and hair everywhere and I had to give him the hardest time for not saying anything! Well then it gets better. Right after we walk in the door, I hear Collin call for me from his crib. I go in to get him out and the first thing he does is stroke both sides of my head with his hands and say, "Pretty hair, Momma, pretty hair", very appreciatively. Haha! Oh Trav will never hear the end of it! :) 

We had babysitting swap that night so we splurged and went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We asked Trav to take our picture (he turns into Mr. Photographer when Marcie and I get together) and this is the pic he snapped when we were getting ready. I love it! Especially Marcie's face.

 Then we had to be cheesy.

I have to say we normally don't order cheesecake, but it was a special occasion so we got the 30th anniversary one to take home. O.M.G. That is a keeper! It had me at "chocolate truffle".

Saturday brought sunshine! Well, at least the afternoon did. The morning was foggy so we had to reschedule beach time til after naps. We told Collin we were going to the beach and that was a big mistake. He is a broken record and screetched, Beach, beach practically the whole way there. He was quick to find an appetizing fish skeleton 2 min. after getting there.

 My three boys.

 And the three ladies.

 The weather was too beautiful to eat inside, so we had our Wegman subs for dinner on the back lawn.

Then it was time for the moment we all had been waiting for... learning "the routine" that Monica and Ross do on New Year's Eve. If you've never seen it, click HERE. This is something that we've talked about doing for years! Trav was trying to watch a show on his computer while we practiced it in the living room, and I know he was completely embarrassed for me. We were acting like 8th graders and cracking ourselves up in the process. It was a darn good time.

Then later, we watched an edited version of the Hangover. Hysterical! Seriously, so funny. Now, unfortunately we are drooling over previews of the Hangover 2.

On Sunday we had Stake Conference, broadcasted to our ward building, then spent the afternoon talking and swapping embarrassing stories. Only Trav couldn't contribute because he "doesn't get embarrassed". Oh please.

Then we went for a walk and Marcie admired all the east coast {doll houses}. Admittedly, that's one of my favorite games to play on walks too. Picking out my favorite house and imagining living there. And given our choice of cinema the night before, this picture held all new meaning.

Marcie is queen of fun makeup/hair/clothing blogs and found a fun tutorial HERE for newspaper nails. So we had to try it out.

 Kind of hard to see with my crappy camera, but I loved them! And not hard at all. It was a fun activity to go along with watching the finale of Celebrity Apprentice. Go John Rich! He totally deserved to win.

 On Monday we went to the Family Room then watched The Switch while the boys napped. It was so sad to have to take her to the airport. Collin flipped out when she walked away inside the airport. It's really no fair that fun Aunt Marcie has to live hundreds of miles away. Lane and Rusty have got it good.

 Possibly the saddest part of all was the next morning when I realized that we hadn't done the one and only thing Marcie specifically requested..... visit the GHETTO! I don't know how many times I said I would drive her to the ghetto to see what it was like, and then completely forgot! Sad day. But then, maybe it's better... she may have had some nightmares of Bailey Ave. after getting home. Really, all I had to do was take her to the Wal-Mart on Walden to show her some high class citizens. That Friday that I picked Trav up, he was doing a rotation at ECMC (the county hospital) and man he had some good stories about shootings and general "ghetto-ness". It was really pretty sad. And right after you leave the hospital parking lot, I snapped a pic of this fine poster. It says "Days of peace since Buffalo's last homicide". We wondered if 13 was considered a {high} number, then concluded it must be. Actually, 13 sounds quite miraculous.

Such a fun week. I love my sister! And we missed Shelley for sure. Thanks for visiting the Buff, Marcie! And thank you Mom and Dad for flying her out!

(And an extra thanks for the seed money... as you can see, we took full advantage of every dolla! :) 

A Week Off

This year, the school gave a week off between 2nd semester and spring term. It would have been fun to go do something new and exciting, but taking into account our low funds, it turned into more of a {veg out} week. Monday night, the Bennions hosted what was coined, a reunion BBQ, for the Tonga group + families. It was a fun evening, but sarcastic Stephanie gathered the group for a photo to showcase how much everyone has changed in the long 2 months since they were gone. :) Perhaps a bit more white, but that's about all.

 On Tuesday Trav played soccer and helped dig a massive tree out of someone's yard and I had Bunco that night. But the real fun started Wednesday. I had to do one of those {clear liquid} diets in prep for a super fun procedure on Thursday. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. At least I got to drink chicken broth and eat sherbet instead of straight fasting. However, I bought the wrong kind of popcicles, so my way to the store up the street to get the right ones, I noticed a man walking with two pizza boxes stacked on top of each other. Could it be?! It could. Little Caeser's finally opened!! We have been waiting with baited breath for this to happen. We'd literally update our friends when we saw progress such as the sign going up or notices for employee applications. $5 pizza's are very exciting. And within walking distance!!! Major scorage. EXCEPT for when they open on the one and only day I can't eat them. Of course. I nursed my hunger instead with a lime popcicle and told myself life wasn't that bad.

Then Thursday came.

I was told I'd be put under for the procedure but my doctor failed to tell me that I'd have to pump and dump for 24 hours afterward. So after a full day of nasty prep, waiting an hour in the waiting room, changing into a gown, and getting ready to get it all over with, the nurse tells me this. Weston hasn't taken a bottle in over a month. As it was, I was nervous to get back in time to feed my hungry babers. I called Trav and could hear Weston wailing. He tried again to give him a bottle and no could do. By now I was stressing big time, literally wringing my hands and on the verge of tears. The nurses called all over to see if I could be given something else that wouldn't require me to pump and dump. They finally got authorization to use something different but I'd still be pumping for 12 hours. So I just told them to forget it. I'd do it without anesthesia. It wasn't unheard of, just rare. I just told myself there wasn't any other option, and I could do it. Um, LOTS more painful than I expected. I found myself doing the same breathing I did through my worst contractions in labor. Near the end, I was starting to yell out in pain and then it was over. The things we do for our kids! Then I thought of the guy on 127 Hours that had a premonition of a son he hadn't had yet and cut off his own arm to free himself from the rock. I guess my morning wasn't that bad. Still, I was ready for my slice of Little Caesars. Too bad one slice was all I could eat before I was maxed out. Glad to Thursday over with!

On Friday we spent a couple of hours at the zoo. Bee-a-U-tiful day! The Shaws went too and we probably spent a whole hour under some yummy smelling trees, eating lunch, relaxing and letting the boys run around. When we left, Collin was rosy red and ready for a good, long nap!

 Saturday night was graduation, so we watched Maddie and Boyd for the Cardons during the ceremony. Trav drove them to the school afterward for pictures and saw everyone in their cap and gowns filing out. It is surreal that so many of our friends are done and out of here in the next month or so. It's actually really sad. I'm not a fan of change and big changes are coming our way. 15 families will be leaving our ward this summer. I feel like such a fun, good part of our lives is over, even though we still have a year left. I know this next year will go fast and it will be our turn and that is definitely not something I'm ready for.

Here are Boyd and Weston. Boyd is such a chunk and I seriously can't get enough of his cheeks!

 There is just something about this outfit that I love. It's fun seeing Weston in Collin's old stuff and remembering him at this age.

 Does anyone else do this? It makes me chuckle every time. I love that his face is like, "Ok, crazy lady, you done yet? I don't know why you think this is so funny, but I'll humor you."

Weston is no chunk, but he seems meatier than Collin. I tried to keep these rolls PG. I think I may have graduated from skim milk to 1% with this kid!

 This was to showcase our tulips. They make an appearance for about .2 seconds every spring. Then a nasty storm usually beats them down. Last week was such nice weather, but of course it couldn't last. This week is rain, rain, rain and my little sister is visiting! When I told her the forecast she exclaimed, "Why does Buffalo hate me?!" It hates us all, Marcie.

 We wanted to bless Weston on the 22nd, while Marcie was here, but it turned out to be Stake Conference. I'm striking out all over the place! So we finally blessed our little 3 month old last Sunday. Grandma Ann sent his sweet little blessing outfit. Travis did a really nice job. Rachel was able to write down quite a bit of it for us.

 In the circle were Doug, Creed, Ryan, and Bron (not pictured) and the bishop. It was a different experience blessing Weston, since we did Collin's in Arizona. But I was grateful for good friends to be in the circle. Family away from family.

 I feel like I should have powdered his face or something for these pictures!

 I could eat this belly all day long!

This video will be annoying to watch because I always forget you can't switch views with a video! So, sorry it's on its side. But I thought maybe some Grandma's would like to see some giggles.