Identity

This move has been good. We see Devry so much more! Even 2 weeks ago when he was in Casper working, we were able to go stay with him for 6 days. It's been so nice to see him!

One of the more difficult things about the move has been when people ask me "what do you do?"

I don't really know how to answer. Sometimes I simply say, "I stay home with my kids." Or "I don't work." But it bothers me to say this. It is a huge blessing to be able to be home right now (although it might be short lived....i'll explain later), but I feel like my response of "I don't work," completely discredits the tremendous amount of work and sacrifice I put into my education and experience as a nurse. Anyone who has been through nursing school knows its BRUTAL. Especially BYU-Idaho, who's program is condensed and extremely competitive. I worked my butt off, first to get into nursing school, and then going through the program. It was hard! I worked 2-3 nights a week at a nursing home while in school to avoid student loans, so the 2 years I spent to get my associates degree were incredibly stressful. Then I graduated! And got an awesome job right away!  I wanted my Bachelors Degree. So I worked full time as a labor and delivery nurse, and went to school full time for 2 more years, and  had Payton in the middle of it all. I worked hard at it all and maintained a really good GPA all through school. My job was a huge blessing to us. There are not many other jobs that could have provided us with such a good income after only an associates degree. It kept us out of debt for school. We both graduated with our Bachelors degrees 100% free of student loans.

I loved my job. There are not many things you can witness as miraculous as childbirth. And I got to experience it over and over. I got to help moms in one of the most life changing experiences of their lives. I got to hold brand new babies constantly. It was very difficult, sad and overwhelming at times, but completely worth it! The best part about my job was that until the last year, when I went to work, Devry was home. And I got home before he left for work. It was a perfect schedule, that made it so the only time I was away from Payton was mostly when he was asleep. I sacrificed alot of sleep to have this schedule, but it prevented us doing babysitters or daycare, so it was completely worth it! 

When Devry started working in Rock Springs, we we so blessed to find Carissa to help me. She stayed with Payton on nights I worked, and was a HUGE support to us. I never worried while I worked, or felt guilty about leaving, because I knew he was having fun and being well taken care of. It got harder after having the twins though. Obviously it was much more work, and I always felt so bad leaving them overnight. 

When we decided to move, we decided I wouldn't look for a job, at least not right away. 

It's been a challenge though. Don't get me wrong. I love being a mom. I love being able to devote so much more to my kids. But I feel like in some ways it has caused me to have a little identity crisis. I have always been a student, a nurse, or both AND a mom. Never "JUST" a mom. Being "JUST" a mom takes a huge amount of work, patience, love, devotion, and so much more. There is no "just" about it. I  can't help but feel like my education, license and hard work is being completely wasted. I'm not using it right now, at least not in the professional sense. I don't really mention it unless it comes up. 

The other day I was talking with some of girls I have met here in Green River. Someone was talking about recently having a baby. And someone openly asked a question on the topic of childbirth. I kind of habitually answered her question matter of factly. I realized I got a couple of looks, like "what makes you such an expert?" So I threw in the fact that I was a labor and delivery nurse for 4 years. Instantly their faces changed to "OH! Ok, your opinion and advice is completely valid." Then once knowing this piece of information, they started asking me lots of questions. My answers to their questions was no longer just an opinion. It was an educated, valid opinion with experience and a degree behind it. I feel helpful when people know this. I Love sharing the knowledge I have gained. I really miss it. I love helping people, especially new moms. 

I really do love being able to be home with my kids. 

But some days. When I feel like I have exhausted my patience, cleaned up too many messes, wiped too many bums, dealt with too much screaming and tantrums, and talked to no one except a 3 year old, I miss the outlet of work. These daily, repetitious "mom" tasks are assumed, expected, overlooked and insignificant. In those "weak" moments, when all three kids are screaming, the house is a mess, Dinner needs made, and I haven't even gotten dressed and its 5pm, I have found myself becoming jealous, and even resentful of Devry. Thinking he's so lucky he can just leave and not deal with the craziness of kids. That he actually gets to have a conversation with adults! That he has no idea how hard it is to be with the kids 24/7. Of course, when the kids are happy again (or sleeping), and most of the tasks are done, reality hits and I realize he probably thinks the same things, but opposite. "How lucky she is to spend 24/7 with the kids and not have to go work endless hours at a physically demanding job."(although he is the most gracious, kind and hardworking person I know and would never ever say anything like that...but I am sure he thinks it!) I know that's definitely more accurate, but in those challenging moments when I am so overwhelmed, it's hard to think rationally.

I'm trying to adjust to this stay at home mom thing. I'm finding that when I have very little planned, I tend to have lazy, non productive days where kids are crankier, and my patience runs thinner. Days that I get up, get everyone dressed (including myself), and do something..even if its just a walk, or a planned activity, I am more organized, more efficient and productive. I feel less discouraged and depressed. So I am trying to fill my days a little more with things to do. Play groups, walks, parks etc. It will get more challenging as our activities are becoming limited by cold weather. We may be visiting the Rec center across the street many times this winter. Hopefully Payton and I will continue to make friends and find lots to do..especially when Devry is gone for his 2 weeks. 

I also am realizing more now that work doubled as my outlet. It was work, but also a break from home. A break from cranky kids, messy house and never ending to do list. My coworkers were my friends, so it was a bit of a social outlet as well. I kind of hit my limit a couple weeks ago, when it hit me that I had been with the kids 24/7 for months. I felt like a horrible mom by having this huge desire to have time away from them. Then I remembered the countless mom's I taught a very important lesson to while doing discharge teaching. The best mom's take breaks from their kids. Not even the worlds greatest super mom can be a supermom 24/7. We all need outlets, breaks, and time to relax, regroup and refresh. So Devry and I had a big talk. Somehow, someway I needed some outlet time. I decided to buy a pass to the Rec center and start swimming and working out. So now, on weeks when Devry comes home in the evenings, we eat dinner, I feed and put the babies to bed at 7, and then leave. I go across the street and workout for an hour. Most of the time its swimming, sometimes is a class. Devry puts Payton to bed while I'm gone, then I come home around 8:30. It has worked great so far. The two weeks Devry leaves will be a challenge. I will probably end up going a couple times a week and just paying for their childcare.  Our next task is to find a way to have an occasional date night.... 

We'll see though...my days of being a stay at home mom may be limited. We got the bad news that Halliburton is taking away their employee's paid weeks off. This paid week off has been wonderful. He works 2, and gets 1 off, still being paid for 40 hours of work. They are extremely slow right now, and are having to cut hours. They say it will be given back once they pick up in 6ish months..but rumor is that once they take away the paid week off, most likely you will never get it back. Some months Devry has 2 weeks off. That's where it will hurt us the most. We have a large payment for a loan we had to take out to Pay off our mortgage when we took a loss on selling the house. Paying that on top of our regular bills is tight as it is. Taking away the paid weeks off will make it so I will most likely have to get a job in January (after we take a month trip to Canada YAY!) It is stressful, because it would mean we would have to do childcare of some sort at least some of the time. We will see what happens.

Well this is my little vent session! I would love to hear any suggestions for how to stay sane while constantly being with kids. What do you do for an outlet? Does anyone feel the way I do about their education being a waste? Or feel guilty for wanting a break from their kids? 

Halloween 2012

This Halloween was busy, but fun!

 Cohen had a Dr's appointment at Primary Children's in Salt Lake City. So we spent the day going to that. When we got home, we hurried to get the kids ready and headed to the Trunk or treat at the church. 

I decided to coordinate the kids costumes. 

Payton was the Cat in the Hat and the twins were Thing 1 and Thing 2. 

I bought part of the costumes, and made part of them. I was planning on making Payton's, but a cat in the Hat costume went on clearance at Target.com, and I don't think I could have made it for as cheap, so I bought it. The twins, I bought "my first Christmas" outfits from carters that were red and white striped, and attatched Thing 1 and thing 2 circles. Then I glued blue boas to hats for the blue hair. Super easy, and WAYY cheaper then buying their costumes. plus I will just take the Things circles off and they have their Christmas outfits! 

Here are some pictures of my cuties!!

And here are the pumpkins we carved this year. Payton got to pick out his and the Twins. He chose Mickey Mouse, lightning mcqueen and Mater. Then Devry wanted his annual Michigan pumpkin. I decided to make more then just an M this year and did a little bit more. They weren't perfect for sure, but I don't think they turned out too bad!

Christmas card!

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

The last month and Family Pics

It has been a VERY crazy month for our family. 

On September 15th, Devry's Parents and Brothers we SO kind and helped us pack the Uhaul and move to Rock Springs. We didn't want Devry to have to get off work, drive home, pack up and drive right back, so we did it without him. They were so willing and helpful!

Backtracking a little...After we found out our house had sold, I started looking for some place to live. We thought we would stay with Devry's brother and his family for a few months and move to Rock Springs in November. They so willingly offered their home to us. I started looking for a place for November. There was nothing. Every landlord I talked to said almost all the rentals would be gone by september, october at the latest. It is hard to find housing in Rock Springs. So I started calling on some places, and over and over again they were snatched up within a day. Finally I found a newly remodled townhouse, that was a great price. I talked to the landlord a ton, and she answered all my questions, sent me pictures, etc. We got the townhouse and were really excited! 

Back to moving day...We arrived at our new townhouse. They unloaded the UHaul. Devry arrived monday morning. The townhouse was smaller then we thought it would be. It was supposed to be 1700 sq feet....really it was MAYBE 1500 including the unfinished basement. I had been told by the landlord that although the basement was unfinished it would be great to use for a play area for Payton, to ride his bike, drive his trucks etc. I had counted on that. Upon arriving, I discovered not only that the basement only had one small light, and was mostly dark, but it had bolts sticking out of the walls, and parts of the walls falling off. Not what I would consider a safe play area. So minus the basement, we only had a max of 1000 sq feet of living space and a very small fenced in area (that was all dirt). Really...we could have made it work, except for the few things that happened over the next week. First off..the feeling in the neighborhood was not good. Our immediate next door neighbors were very trashy, and were constantly screaming and yelling and cussing at their kids. Through the paper thin walls it sounded as though they were in the next room. The same kids were scoping out Payton's toys and made me really nervous they would come take them. The cops were in the neighborhood 3 times in a matter of 4 days....one time with 3 cop cars. We felt SO unsafe. It was not the type of neighborhood we wanted to be in, and Devry didn't feel comfortable at all leaving us there for 2/6 weeks. I didn't feel safe letting payton play outside at all, or going for walks with the kids. We kind of started looking at other places. The last straw was when we decided one evening to walk up to the great park that was a couple of blocks away. On the way up we passed a disabled man in a wheelchair with his dog. His dog started barking, and seemed really mean. It was on a leash so we just kept walking. We played at the park, then the same man brought his dog to the park and let it off the leash. Devry didn't like how the dog was acting, so we decided to leave. While walking home we looked and saw the man driving his wheelchair back down the street with the dog off the leash behind him. We kept walking, but the dog took off after us and began barking very aggressively trying to snap at us. Devry handed me the Bob and told me to take the kids home. The dog bit him, luckily Devry saw it coming and moved so it didn't really hurt him. It kept snapping at him and wouldn't back off. Another neighbor came out and got the dog to leave. They called the cops because the dog had bitten multiple people and nothing can be done unless they continue to report vicious behavior. The cops came and issued ANOTHER vicious dog warning, and left, doing nothing. That was kind of the final straw. We couldn't even walk to the park anymore. It was just a few houses away from ours that this dog lived, and with the cops doing absolutely nothing, I now had one more reason I didn't feel safe going outside. 

So I called my landlord, and told her it wouldn't work for us, and explained it all to her. Unfortunately we had signed a year lease, with a buyout option that would be way more then we could afford. But we needed to get out of there. She worked with us and agreed to only keep our security deposit and not charge us any more rent, or a buy out fee. So I immediately got on the phone and called another lady on a beautiful new town home we had looked at and loved. It worked out so great that we got to move in 2 days later. It is SO much nicer! 2200 square feet (all finished). 2 car garage, big family room downstairs and play area. 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, huge master bathroom and closet. Perfect! We LOVE it, and love the neighborhood. Devry and I loaded the moving truck by ourselves...then when we pulled into our new house, a man came by with his kids to help start unloading. He turned out to be the bishop of our church, and he got on the phone and got a few more guys from Church to come help. The truck was empty in 45 minutes! There are lots of great families around with little kids. Our Ward for Church is great, with lots of young families with kids. I've made some good friends already! We are mostly unpacked and trying to get settled. The house is in a neighboring community to Rock Springs called Green River. It is a much more family friendly community, and we like it so much more! We are right across the street from the Rec Center, and there are tons of parks! It is about a 15 minute drive for Devry to work, so not too bad. 

On Sunday night, Devry had to leave to work out of town for 2 weeks. They sent him to Casper Wy this time. It was hard having him go, but not because we felt unsafe or anything. We love our new house, and our new neighborhood. The kids are adjusting well. We closed on the sale of our house last week (yeah it was SUPPOSED to close by the end of august....ended up being the 2nd week of october!)

Moving and change in general is hard. But it was SO nice to see Devry every single day for 4 weeks straight. That hasn't happened since I had the twins, and before that last summer. Being on my own with the kids for 2 weeks is so worth it to see him every day for 4 weeks straight. 

We have a very busy few months ahead. Devry's next week off we have two trips to salt lake for a Dr's appointment for Cohen and then surgery. 2/3 of my boys have hit the genetic lottery with both having a hypospadias. Very minor...small surgery to repair it as babies, just a pain for any baby to have surgery. I'm anxious for it to be over. 

Then his next week off is American Thanksgiving, so we are going to spend it with Devry's parents in Idaho. 

Then his next week off we are flying to Nova Scotia!! I have such mixed feelings about this trip. OF COURSE I am SO EXCITED to go home, to see my family, for everyone to meet the twins. BUT the way it will work is Devry will fly us there and spend his week off. Then he will fly back alone and work for 2 weeks, over Christmas. Then his next week off he will fly back to NS and spend that week there, then we will all fly back. It was the only way it would work. The airlines will not let me fly alone with two babies, not that I'd want to, but I would to avoid Devry having to fly back and forth over and over.  I am excited to be home for Christmas, but SO sad not to get to spend Christmas with him. It's been 6 years since I've been able to be home for Christmas. I am really looking forward to a month with my Family.

So the last month has been crazy, and so will the next 3!  

And on to some Pictures!

My friend Suzy started doing photography. The day she announced she was officially doing it as a business, I booked her! She is so talented! Our husband's went to high school and played basketball together, and we went through nursing school together, so it was so great to be able to see her, and meet her DARLING miracle baby Lucy! check out her site at http://suzyholmanphotography.blogspot.com

And here are some of the amazing photos she took!

6 Months old!

I thought time flew when Payton was a baby. 

But it was nothing compared to with these two. 

It literally seems like maybe a month ago I was in the NICU feeding them.

And here they are, 6 months old, growing and changing every single day.

Cohen continues to be a little bigger then Kayson (but you'd never know from looking at them or holding them...Kayson is solid!). Cohen weighed 14 lbs 13 oz at his well check, and was 27.5 inches long. He still has tons of dark curly hair, alot like Payton's was. He is a sweetie! He has become a very content, always happy baby. He used to be a little more needy and wanted to be held alot. Now he just plays and plays. He LOVES toys, or anything he can use as a toy (blankets, socks, clean diapers, pacifier clips etc). He is rolling everywhere, and getting his knees under him to scoot forward a little. He is a big momma's boy, and lights up whenever he sees me. It always melts my heart! He has a cute little giggle, and such a sweet smile. He sleeps on his tummy, no matter how hard I try to stop him. He loves his pacifier, and I think we are finally getting past him preferring his fingers. He loves his brothers. It is so cute to see him and Kayson interact more and more, and to see more reactions from them when Payton talks to them. He babbles and coos a ton. He LOVES rice cereal and cries when I don't give him bites fast enough. He has been a GREAT sleeper, and was to the point of sleeping 9pm to 6am...until lately when both boys began waking up every 3 hours to eat (which they have NEVER done). So we adjusted a few things, and the last 2 nights they've gone from 9-4.. we will get back to where we were. Hopefully soon.  We love life with this little guy!

Kayson weighed in at 14lbs 6 oz and 27 inches long. He is also very happy, and giggles a ton! Payton can get him giggling better then anyone, and I love watching them! He has been a little more fussy in the past couple months. Not what we expected from our once silent baby who NEVER fussed or made a peep. He still is a great baby...but just a little more needy then we expected him to be. He simply LOVES people. He wants to be talked to, held, played with constantly. He smiles at everyone! He is also rolling over a ton...but is more interested in following people then playing with toys. He loves LOVES his pacifier..and still gets swaddled at bedtime so he doesn't pull it out. He is a picky little guy, and HATES rice cereal. Cohen is screaming for more, and Kayson is screaming cuz we keep putting that nasty stuff in his mouth. I tried oatmeal, with no improvement. Finally I pumped some milk and made it with breast milk instead of formula, and he ate it much better. He's not a fan of formula, and since I'm not producing enough for their last feeding of the day, Cohen has been getting a bottle of formula while Kayson nurses. Spoiled monkey. He loves to talk to people, and just babbles away. He also had a rough patch of sleeping..but the last few nights has done great! We adore him and his social little personality!

Having Twins has been so much fun. Of course it is hard, especially with Devry being gone. But in all honesty, I would do it again (up to this point. Ask me again when they are 2 and I might have changed my mind). They are GOOD babies. Content, happy, great eaters, good sleepers (mostly). They love each other, and are always holding hands or linking arms. They have started talking to each other which is fun. They fight over toys (particularly Sophie the teething giraffe...might have to buy a second one). Speaking of teething...Neither of the boys have any coming in. They are super drooly and chew on everything, but no swollen gums, no signs of them coming. payton had 4 teeth fully in at this age with more on their way so its throwing me off a little! I wonder if they will get them at the same time. We'll have to see.  There are definitely hard things about twins, but It really is fun having 2 babies!

Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks. Still can't believe how big they are getting!

My 3 cuties!

Always linking arms

Payton taking picture

Kayson with Devry

Cohen as content as ever just playing on the floor with toys.

Rice cereal time

I love this because they are both asleep holding sophie. This really is a GREAT toy. It's more pricy then I normally would pay, but all three boys have LOVED it. 

My handsome guys looking so grown up in their church attire. 

California Trip! August 2012

We had a trip planned to go to California for several months. 

When we found out we sold our house, we debated not going since there was so much to get done!

But we decided to take a break from all the stress of packing, cleaning, moving, stressing.

And go relax and spend some fun, stress free time together as a family.

Two Sundays ago, I loaded up the kids, and Carissa and caravanned to Utah with Tim and Danizza (Devry's brother and his wife). We stayed at Danizza's grandparents that night. 

Devry got off work and flew to Rock Springs, jumped in his car and booked it to South Jordan to meet us. He arrived at 4:30 am. We got ready, packed up and were on the road by 6. Devry and I took our Jetta (that gets 45-50 miles/per gallon!) with Cohen and Kayson, and Tim and Danizza took Payton and Carissa. We drove straight through to Anaheim that day! It went pretty good! A few feeding stops, potty breaks, a little bit of bad traffic, and we made it to the hotel. We went swimming, then crashed for the night. 

The next morning we woke up and went to Disneyland! It was a blast! Seeing Payton so excited about everything was the best! Here are all the pictures from Disneyland. I'll caption them!

Tim, Danizza, the Twins and I on the bus headed to the park. 

Devry, Payton and Carissa on the Bus

At the entrance! Carissa's Boyfriend is serving a mission for our church in Australia right now. So she made a minature Braden on a popsicle stick so he could be in the pictures too!

Meeting our first Character - Pluto. Payton loved him from a distance, but got a little nervous and I had to hold him. 

Devry, Payton with Goofy! Payton was getting a bit better!

Carissa and mini Braden with Mickey!

Payton and I with Minnie

Family Pic. Babies were in the stroller most of the time. They did GREAT!

Payton with Cute mickey ears!

Devry, Payton and I with Mickey

Super Dad Devry! He pushed the BOB most of the time with all 3 kids on it. Payton wearing his new mickey hat and sunglasses!

Carissa, Payton and I on the Dumbo Ride. We took Payton on alot of the little rides. Devry gets motion sick so he volunteered to stay with the babies :)

Me and Cohen! I really didn't take many pictures of the Twins this trip. They were in their stroller, and I rarely thought about taking them out to get pictures. I think I will regret it...but I didn't want to mess with them when they were being SO good!

Devry and Payton in a Car in Mickey's Toon Town. Payton's favorite part of Disneyland!

Payton was in the BOB at this point, so Carissa volunteered to pack Kayson around for a while. She was SUCH a HUGE help to us on our trip and we are SO GLAD we took her!

Carissa and I were waiting for Devry and Payton, who were on a Train ride, so we had some fun taking pictures of braden. I would hold him and make him lifesize. It made for some pretty fun pictures!

Rocketship ride in Tomorrowland!

Buzz lightyear ride. Payton had fun shooting everything!

Pretty much summing up what Payton thought of Disneyland!


We had a blast at Disney! Payton loved the rides, the Characters, everything!  We went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse that night..of course we had to take a picture of Carissa and Braden at Outback! 

After Dinner, we cooled down from the hot day by swimming. Then everyone crashed. 

The next day we got up and headed to California Adventure. 

It was also a reallly fun day!

Payton at Cars Land. I really think this was one of the biggest highlights of his life!  He was in HEAVEN!

Devry and Payton with Lightning McQueen!

Carissa, the Twins and I with Lightning. I was super bummed my eyes were closed in this pic since its the only one we took, and since its really the only one with the twins in it with a character!

Superdad again!

Carissa and Payton outside Cars Land.

Carissa and Braden with a Tractor

We took the Babies on the Little Mermaid Ride. They were just looking everywhere, in awe!

Carissa, Danizza and I left the kids with the guys and hit up some rides!

Devry and Payton with Jessie

Carissa and Kayson with Mater!

Payton with Woody! He Loved him!

Buzz Lightyear! Uncle Tim and Payton!

Carissa and Braden wtih Jessie

Payton loved the bumper cars in A Bugs life...he rode it 3 times

Carissa and Payton on the ferris wheel

Payton and me on the ferris wheel

Payton on a ride in A bigs Life

Tim and Danizza

Payton and me with "Donald Guck" as payton says. 

Family Pic at California Adventure

Devry and Me

 After that day, we were exhausted! We drove to my Aunt Phyl's house in Carlsbad, stopping at In & out on the way. We got there, visited with her and her son Alan for a bit, and crashed for the night. 

The next day (Thursday) was a really fun, more relaxing day. We got up, and headed to the beach! We enjoyed playing in the waves, building sand castles, getting buried in the sand, and Carissa even surfed for the first time ever! We stayed all morning and into the afternoon. About 1:30 we went and ate fish n chips and a local seafood restaurant. So Yummy! Then we headed to my Aunt's timeshare where we had access to the awesome pools (kids splash park area and pool), hot tub, sauna and showers! It was SUCH a blast and So generous of her to offer it to us!! That night we went out to eat at Round Table Pizza, and headed back to my aunts to sleep. Here are lots of pictures from Thursday!

Devry and I with Cohen and Kayson at the beach. 

Family Pic at the beach. 

Carissa Playing in the water with Payton.

Carissa in the waves

They had so much fun! Again, we were SO glad she was there!! Devry and I were holding the twins most of the time, so it was great to have lots of ppl to play with Payton. 

Carissa with her surf board! It was like twice her size! She impressed us all (and the lifeguard and guy who rented it to her) by getting up and actually surfing 3 times! Most ppl don't get up that quick. She's a champ!

Aunt Danizza burying Payton

Covered in Sand!

Carissa headed in from surfing.

She was EXHAUSTED

Building Sand Castles with Uncle Tim

He had SO much fun!

More Sandcastle building

At the seafood restaurant for lunch.

Playing in the pool at the timeshare. It was nice and warm so even the babies could get in! They LOVED it!

Carissa and Me with the Kids

Family Pic in the pool

Devry and I at Round Table Pizza. As you can see, we definitely got some son! All of the adults got burnt!

 After a fun filled Day, we headed back to sleep. The next day (Friday) We went to sea world! I think it was my favorite park of the trip! We had so much fun seeing all the animals, watching the shows and riding a few rides. It was a hot day, and we were all sun burned, but it was still a BLAST!

Payton and I with a turtle

Ernie and Bert in sesame street part of sea world

Cohen and Kayson chilling in the BOB

Devry and I at Sea world

Payton and I waiting for a dolphin to come over

We got to touch a few dolphins! It was amazing!

Carissa, Payton and my hands touching a dolphin

Payton in a Shamu hat

Family pic outside of sea world

Tim and Danizza

After Sea world, we ate at In n Out again, and went to the time share again to cool off in the pool and shower. Then went back to my aunts for one more night. 

This picture was just funny :) Payton getting tackled by Payton while holding Kayson. Just wait till they are all big enough to do the tackling!

Here is our Family with My Aunt Phyl. It was SO great to see her!! She was so generous and kind in letting our large group stay at her house! I'm so glad she got to meet Devry and the kids!

Saturday morning We got up early, and got the car packed and ready to go. Then Aunt Phyl's Son Warren and his Wife Lisa, and their daughters Alex and Andy came over to visit. It was great to see them! I haven't seen them in about 6 years!

Lisa, Alex and Andy with Cohen and Kayson!

Warren holding Kayson

After a couple of hours visiting, they left and we got on the road. We decided to break up the driving a bit and stay in Vegas Saturday night. We got there, checked into the hotel, and went out for dinner at The Cheesecake factory. I was so excited to go because I LOVE it...but it was probably the only disappointment of the trip! The food was great, but the kids were NOT. I don't really blame them...long week, and spending all day in the car. Payton was cranky and not listening, and the twins decided they were hungry almost an hour early, right as I was getting my food. So I ate a bit while holding screaming babies, and finally just got up and left. I didn't even get a chance to get cheesecake :( Oh well, another time I guess :)

We went back to the hotel, I fed the babies while Devry took Payton swimming in the pool. That was another adventure. I went down to get Devry and Payton, who had just gotten in the hot tub. Devry got up and was SO itchy and his skin was burning! He must have had a bad reaction to chlorine wherever he had a sunburn. He was on fire for like half an hour to the point he just stood in the shower. Nothing we had helped (lotion, aloe vera, soap). Finally I had Tim go get some anti itch and burn cream. That helped a little bit. He could tell I was getting a little overwhelmed with the kids, so he was adamant that we go out and do something. Luckily the itching and burning eased enough we could. I think he was in a lot more discomfort then he would let on, but didn't want to ruin anything. Tim and Danizza werent feeling great and didn't want to go out anywhere, so we put the kids to sleep and left. Devry, Carissa and I went down on the strip, to the Bellagio. Carissa had never been to vegas so it was neat to show her part of the strip. We watched the water show a few times, walked to ceasers palace, then decided to head back to the hotel. 

Carissa and Braden in front of the belagio

Devry and I

We found a bumble bee on the strip, so we had to get a picture. 

Sunday morning we got up and got on the road. Devry had to be back in rock springs by 9 that night. We drove to Danizza's grandparents, switched everything back over to my car, and he took off. The week went SO fast! I couldn't believe it was time for him to go again! I can't wait until we don't have to say goodbye so often! It gets harder and harder!!

The rest of us stayed at Danizza's grandparents again, then got up and headed home Monday. 

It was such a fun week and we made SO many memories!! It was nice to get away from all the stress we have going on, and just enjoy some fun things as a family! I hope someday we can do it again when all of our kids are old enough to enjoy it.