October

The day we moved in was General Conference Saturday, which I hated missing. My mom kept our kids all day while we unpacked essentials and Trav set up beds. He went to Priesthood that night with his dad and brothers and I went to Gecko with my mom and Marcie. The new fad seems to be soda shops so we went to THE Soda Shoppe after dinner! I don't love drinking my calories, but the Happy Camper soda did indeed make me a happy camper. ;)

On Sunday, with no internet or cable set up, we watched the morning session of conference at the Evans and had lunch with them, then watched the afternoon session at my parents' house and ate dinner there. They got irrigation and Olive and Lindi couldn't help but do a little skinny dipping. It felt very strange that evening, knowing we weren't driving back to Gallup late at night. We got to stay until 8pm and just drive 10 min. to our home in Gilbert. 

That whole next week was awful. I cannot emphasize enough my hate for packing and unpacking. IT'S THE WORST!!!! It was also fall break, so Collin was home from school all week. Travis started work bright and early Monday morning. My saving grace was Shelley. She came and got all my kids Monday morning and kept them all day. She even fed them dinner and gave them baths before bringing them home. Then she came back on Tuesday and did it again. Without her, I'd still be unpacking. I started noticing little notes that Brinn had written on some of the boxes. It totally lifted my spirits when I saw them. 

I needed a break mid week, so we ventured to the library and tried out story time with Karen and Olivia. It was cute and well done and they got to do a craft. 

Occasionally, we will see a red minivan and the kids will excitedly point and shout, "There's Megan!!!! There's Megan!!" And my heart will lurch a little bit while I break it to them.  

The following Monday, Collin started at his new school, American Leadership Academy.

The Saturday before, we drove over to check it out. It is directly across the street from the Gilbert Temple. I wasn't expecting to get emotional when I pulled into the parking lot, but how could I not? That temple is so beautiful it takes my breath away. And my child gets to go to school in it's shadow?!  How was this real life? (Confession: Two years ago when we went to the Gilbert Temple Open House, we drove away and I noticed this school. I saw the kids in their uniforms, playing on the nice, new playground, manicured lawn and with their beautiful school behind them and I'll admit, I envied. I sarcastically thought, "Ohhh, how nice for them! Those perfect kids going to their perfect school, enjoying their perfect lives! NEVER, did I think that one day my kid would be one of them. And certainly not in two, short years.) Now, obviously I'm not trying to say I believe this means everything will be perfect for us (as it turns out, everything is FAR from it), but this reality of living so close to a temple is so surreal. It's almost like I feel like we're not worthy. I'm not even sure why. I grew up near a temple. It's not a new concept. But I guess living so far from one for the past 7+ years has changed me. I hope I never lose my awe for it or take it for granted again. Every time I see it, I feel so blessed. 

My mom came over Monday morning to stay with Olive and Weston so I could be with Collin. We went in early to meet his teacher, Mrs. Cianciosi. Um, guess where she is from??

Cheektowaga, New York.

Where Collin was born.

What are freaking odds.

The first grade building happens to be on the very south side of the school and his classroom is on the south side of that building. So look at what he gets to look at out his window?!

Most thoughtful Aunt Marcie picked him up after his first day to get a special treat!

They also went to Target and came home with some treats for the other kids. Weston LOVED his Frankenstein glasses. 

So much so, this is what we found when we checked on him that night.



You get the idea a lot better without the flash on the camera, haha.

Homemade Headbandz game. 

Brinn asked me to send her some pictures of our new house, so I took a few of the main areas. In all, I think it took me two solid weeks to get all the boxes unpacked and the house decorated. (But a month before all the odds and ends things were in place too.) But that's basically all I did for those two weeks. It helped that Travis has Fridays off and could take the kids while I did my thing. I was so sick of listening to music while I organized, that I tried out Podcasts. LOVE. Soooo much more interesting than music!

Here is the living room. I hate that my curtains are too short, but I couldn't justify hundreds of dollars for new ones when this is a rental.

We didn't have a working dishwasher for 2 weeks, so that box is the new one waiting to be installed.



That is the church building behind the white fence. So we walk to church and it is marvelous. I love living in a cul de sac. We spend a lot of time out front while the kids ride bikes. Even better is the fact that the whole neighbor is basically made up of cul de sacs and we live in a gated community. So there is very little traffic and that makes for peaceful walks and bike rides.

I love this pretty chandelier in the entry way. We also have a pretty, little one in our bathroom.

I am in love with the windows in the master bedroom. 

I love the high ceilings and open spaces.

I love my kitchen and how quickly I can get to everything I need. The cabinets are lower than my other ones which is nice. I just miss my huge pantry.

The dark wood tile is pretty, but seems hard to keep clean because it shows every, little thing.

In general, I just la la LOVE that it is small! It is 2400 sq ft. so we nearly cut our square footage in half. No more shouting to each other! I hated always screaming to each other in our old house because we were always so far apart and the kids always needed something the second I climbed the stairs. I seriously have a special kind of hate for second floors and am thrilled to be in a one story house. My dream home will have a basement for recreation and storage, but having all the bedrooms on the same level as the laundry and main living areas is amazzzzing.

It is fantastic to have a master shower that works! And I love not having a sliding glass door on the bath tub I bathe my kids in. The master tub doesn't have nasty jets, so I can actually use it! There isn't nearly the amount of closet space I used to have, but that helped me to throw away even more stuff once we moved in. I thought I had done a thorough "de-junking" of my house when I packed up, but I basically did it all over again when I unpacked. It feels LIBERATING.

The carpets are brand new and nice and cushy. Everything had been freshly painted and updated, so it feels new and nice. I love the shutters in our bedroom and the way my bedroom furniture looks in it. I got rid of my huge, black computer desk that I bought and assembled myself in college and traded it in for a sleek, simple white desk. I got rid of a lot of decorations and feel like I only kept what brings me joy. ;)

YAY for new houses!

I told Travis that it's unfortunate that we are just renting because I am NOT moving again. I seriously can't even think about it. Waaaaah! It's such an ordeal! Add in changing schools, stopping and starting new utilities and internet, figuring out a new ward, new gym, new parks, new shopping, new roads and making new friends. I'm just EXHAUSTED.
I felt this way when we moved to Farmington after finishing dental school. Just a tired, "done" feeling. No energy to start over. It reminds me of the FRIENDS episode when the girls "take back their apartment". They surprise the boys by just switching back all the furniture while they're at a basketball game. Chandler is furious and wants to move it all back again. But Joey just groans and forlornly looks back and forth between the two rooms and says, "I don't knowww... I don't wanna move again." (It's hysterical. Look it up. ;) Amen, Joey. Amen.

The thing is, it was so weird to move back "home" and have it not feel like home at all. We may have grown up in Mesa, but odd as it sounds, Gilbert is a whole different ball game. There was so much to figure out! I used Google maps for everything and Collin would complain, "Why don't you know where you're going?! I thought you grew up here!!" Nope. I definitely did not grow up here.

It is nice to be by family, but we always had them to begin with. All it felt like we did, was lose another type of family we had grown so close to.

It has been hard to live in areas where the church isn't strong, but it has also forced us to step up, so to speak. We felt very needed in those areas. Especially, in Gallup. When we moved into our ward in Gilbert, we had to scrape our jaws off the floor. NEVER have we seen such a high functioning ward. It runs so smoothly, it's normal to have 1/2 a calling! Collin has two sets of couple primary teachers! The entire bishopric came to visit us and Travis had a High Priest PPI within the first month. They had a thick, ward history packet they brought us, filled with color copies of pictures of the whole ward and everything else that happened in 2014. They immediately asked for our picture to include in next years edition. We literally live in the smallest house in the ward. Everyone is educated, talented, on top of things and, well... rich. There aren't a lot of young families. Mostly families with teenagers or empty nesters. I was given the calling of Emergency Preparedness Specialist. It sounded made up to me. And Travis has the arduous task of recording merit badges that the scouts pass off. It all just feels so weird. It's weird knowing you're not needed. And kind of sad. I think it was after our second Sunday that we both sunk onto the couch and expressed similar feelings of just being a little down. I didn't know how to process it all. So many of the things that used to give our lives meaning, just aren't there anymore. After a few more weeks I finally just had to tell myself to get over it. Enjoy it, even. It probably won't always be like this. Why not take some time?! He just bought a practice. We have a young family. I guess we'll just adjust to the fact that we get to be the ones to be "taken care of" for a while. :)

The next weekend, Collin's school had a fall festival. Each classroom was set up with games. It was a rainy night, which put a damper on things, but we still managed to dump our fair share of money. 

 

Confetti eggs they got to smash and make a huge mess with.

Both boys tossed the quarter in the cup on the first try. Maybe we need to switch from soccer to basketball!

This is the principal, Dr. Brown. It was so windy outside, there were kids getting their cotton candy for free, just opening their mouths and standing down wind of the machine!

When we got home, I thought it would be fun to have family movie night and pop popcorn. They always want me to watch shows with them, but if they're watching a show, I usually want to be getting something done! It was fun finally getting to see Paddington. 

Olive struggled with the new nursery the first two weeks, but has done great since. 

The first few weeks of living here I feel like all I did was drive around to shop and run errands! Where we live is crazy. There is AMAZING shopping two miles west of us and even more amazing shopping two miles east of us. We're talking Super Target, TJMaxx, Hobby Lobby, JoAnns, DSW, Wal-Mart and everything in-between. Plus, every restaurant you could possibly want! Paradise Bakery, In 'N Out, Chick Fil A, Red Robin, Olive Garden, Jamba Juice, MOD Pizza, Kneaders, Café Rio, Smashburger and dozens more. It boggles my mind. I drove past this JCPenny and realized there was a Sephora inside. It's like winning the lottery every day.

Dumb thing to document but oh well. I broke down and told the kids they could get a gumball, walking into Wal-mart. Then realized I only had 2 quarters. Collin offered to let the two other kids get theirs now and he'd get his later. So Olive turned the knob and out rolled a pink. Then Weston turned it and got his favorite, orange. When it was Collin's turn later, he was hoping for a green, and out it rolled. I told him, that's what you get for being unselfish. ;)

Marcie asked if I didn't mind taking their family pictures this year. Of course I didn't! I love taking pictures! We went to that retention basin everyone loves on Greenfield and Guadalupe. We lost our sunlight pretty fast, but I'm so glad we got a couple good ones. She had such cute outfits for her and Scarlett. We got attacked by mosquitos and the boys found paintballs to smash, so it was all very eventful. ;)

 On the way home, we met Travis at a pumpkin patch and got some pumpkins for FHE.

I love this little dress I found at Old Navy.

Weston always requests a picture after I've taken one of Olive.

That night I made dog food for dinner.

Blech!!!

Serves me right for trying to poison us with healthy, nasty stir fry made with granulated cauliflower instead of rice!

Anjane has had such awful health problems this past year, but I caught her on a night she was feeling well enough to get dressed and we went out for dessert at Cheesecake Factory! I hate posting gross pictures of myself, but I don't care, because it documented a special night with a good friend. Anjane is amazing and inspirational in so many ways. She is faithful in all things and makes me want to be better. I wish I could lift her burdens, but feel so helpless. I am lucky to be her friend. 

One Friday night, we took the boys to a pumpkin farm. It was rather expensive and pretty lame, but they seemed to like it. 

We started with the really authentic hay ride. You know, the one where you pass the industrial buildings and garbage filled fields! Ugh. I guess once you've lived in New York where the trees are huge and beautiful and you can go to pumpkin farms in scenic, rolling hills, surrounded by changing leaves and apple orchards, you're pretty much ruined for life. I don't know, I guess our view of the parking lot was nice.

Clearly, Travis was digging this.

We left not long after I had to extract Weston from the bounce house with the fresh throw up. We'll just say this whole activity fell a little short for me.

It was at least improved by these cotton candy clouds as we were walking out. Weston reaches a point with pictures.



On the 24th, Abbey had her bridal shower. Her Grandma and aunts had their names in glitter everywhere and the decorations were so fancy and fun! I had been eating really healthy for 3 weeks and it all came tumbling down with this shower. Too much good food to resist!

Shelley, Marcie and I went in on some cute lingerie I found at Victoria Secret. Lindi was there and I guess she told Shelley she really liked Abey's swimsuit, haha!

I'm so excited about adding another brunette to the family!! Woot woot! Maybe now Jefferson will marry a really tall girl and I won't feel like the outcast anymore on those two fronts.

It was a fun filled Saturday because that night we got to go with Marcie and Austin to see Garth Brooks in concert!!! He was performing at Talking Stick Arena and I would have never known to get tickets except for Marcie telling me. This is the first, big concert that Trav and I have ever been to together. 

Got me some cowgirl boots that morning for the occasion!

He played all his #1 hits, so we sang along to almost every song." Callin Baton Rouge" got us the most excited I think. My favorite though, was when Trisha Yearwood came out!!!!! "She used to tie her hair up in ribbons and bow... sign her letters with x's and o's. Gotta picture of her momma in heels and curls! She's gonna make it in her daddy's world. An American girl...." Oh, this was straight from my childhood and I loved every second! Funny part is, I had NO IDEA they were married!! Haha! Call me out of the loop!

The next Sunday, we went to Shelley and Casey's ward in the morning because Casey was put into their bishopric. Then we drove all the way back home because I was getting a calling in our ward. Then we drove back out to north Mesa for our friend's baby's baptism. We met them in Gallup and really just became good friends the few months before we left because our sons were on the same soccer team. I've had lots of religious conversation with Anna that I think connected us faster than your typical relationship. They spend a lot of time in Mesa and decided to bless their baby down here and invited us to come. This was my first time seeing a Catholic baptism. The boys had lots of questions and I thought it was a good experience to go and was happy they invited us. Afterward, they had a luncheon at their parent's home that we went to as well. 

Monday night, Marcie invited us all over for dinner and pumpkin carving for FHE! So nice of her! They had pizza and caramel apples and we brought dry ice and root beer for a fun drink. This was also the first of 3 days that I would make a big pan of pumpkin bars. 

There's not many occasions you can get us girls together and not have a dance party. This night was no different! I loved that Grandma Ann joined in with the little girls too!

That whole week before Halloween, I averaged over 50 miles a day in my car! So annoying!! I just seemed to have a million errands to get Halloween prepared for. On one day, we walked into Old Navy and Olive has learned to go straight for the dog. I don't know why my kids love animals so much. But I do love this picture. She wanted to try on every dang shoe in that place.

We took Daddy's office some pumpkin bars!

She has learned from Weston to bring me random flowers from bushes in the neighborhood.

Wednesday night, we got to put on costumes for the first time and go to our parent's ward fall festival. It was awesome! Tons of fun carnival games, all manned by the YM and YW. It's always fun going back to that ward and visiting with old friends. I also scored on an award winning chili recipe! There were dozens of pots of chili and my mom just happened to pick a good one to try. When I tasted it, I was shocked at how delicious it was. But there was no name on the pot. So we stayed close, waiting for the owner to take it home. Well, all of a sudden, Marcie shrieked and said it was gone! NOOOOOO! I literally screamed and looked around. Then Marcie spotted Sis. Olsen with it across the field. I literally ran to her and nearly tackled her to ask for her recipe. Then it was the joke of the night because the next thing my family knows, I come walking back to the group with the pot of chili under one arm, like I had attacked her and stolen it. She was leaving town the next day and offered it to me. Normally, I would have declined to be polite or at least asked if she was sure, but I just took it right away and said, thanks!! ;)

When I couldn't find a preschool for Weston originally, I decided to just sign him up for this preschool type class put on by the City of Gilbert at the library. It only lasts until the beginning of December. He got to be Star of the Week and fill out a poster about himself. I love where he wants to travel.

Sooo many late nights this week! Not once did the kids get to bed by 8pm. Olive completely conked out in her car seat on Thursday doing errands, poor thing.

I like doing a fun, Halloween themed dinner with the kids in the week before Halloween. So Thursday night I made spooky spaghetti with eyeballs and ghost toast! The kids thought it was so fun, which made it worth it.

I had also made my traditional caramel apples that day, so we had those for dessert along with a homemade, chocolate chip cookie smiles. 

The Friday before Halloween, I helped out at Collin's classroom party. They had a costume parade afterward.

Afterward, we went and picked up my busted I-phone from the Apple store (first time ever shattering a screen!) and couldn't help ourselves as we passed Frost.

That night we went to an adult Halloween party that a couple in our ward invited us to. Super nice of them. But, being the new folks on the block not knowing anyone, plus putting everyone in costumes made for a bit of an uncomfortable night. Ohhhh well.          

Actual Halloween!!
My Ironman, Anna and Leaonardo Ninja Turtle....

We were never allowed to wear masks growing up. I am going to continue that rule...

It was fun trick or treating in our neighborhood!!! In Gallup, the whole reservation pours in and it is mayhem. Like, cars fill the streets and don't move. They just block the road as they lazily creep along, following their kids going door to door. I had grown men come to our house for candy. And don't forget the newborns in strollers with bags on their laps. Sooo, yeah, trick or treating in Gilbert was very much a TREAT. It was very calm and quiet, with no cars, and a few regular sized candy bars. 

The only observation we did make, was it was kind of fancy. I saw adults walking their kids around, holding wine glasses. It was popular to gather together in garages for mini block parties, with alcohol aplenty! And then the ultimate... do you see the meat and cheese platter on this table?! I was dying! 

There was one house a few streets over that was all decked out, haunted house style! It was actually pretty cool and the boys LOVED it. They were handing out fresh bags of popcorn. 

After doing our neighborhood for an hour, we went to visit the grandparents. My siblings are really fun and dress up every year. If I'm being honest, I would have dragged something out of the Halloween box from years past, but since we had the couples party the night before, we actually got creative. 

Only, we had a hard time coming up with a costume. Then we saw some friends dress up as Cecil the Lion and the dentist that shot him. Well, the shoe sort of fit, so we wore it. ;) I had really just heard of this whole debacle. It honestly wasn't until after Halloween that I read up on it a bit and realized how very controversial this costume was. We didn't seem to offend anyone, so we'll call it good.  

My mom was NOT a fan of this shot. (Pun intended, haha.)

Marcie made the most LEGIT gnome costumes!!! I was in awe! Crafty crafty she is.

My parent's neighbors, the Clouses, have a big carnival every year and we've never gotten to go to it! I think this was their last year, since their youngest kid is a senior in high school now. At least we finally made it to one!! It was pretty much over once we got there, so the kids had the run of the games. But I still got to dance with LaRee and Marcie!! That's the best part anyway. 

Sooo tired that they didn't even smell the Filibertos burritos that we got on our way home. Praise the 24 hr. drive through. 

 I think every night this week was a late one. 

Halloween. Is. Exhausting.