July 2011 Nova Scotia Trip - Part 2

We spent the second week of our trip With my mom and Trent. It was also so much fun! We are so lucky to have so many wonderful family members to visit!

We LOVE spending time at my mom’s gorgeous ocean front house. We also love how much she spoils us with her amazing cooking, and does everything she can to make our visits perfect!

I think my mom adores Payton more then anyone I know! She spends every second she has with him, reading, playing, and teaching him. I wish she was closer. Payton absolutely LOVES “nanny” and made sure she was always with him.

We went and picked Raspberries one of the first days we were there. Payton ate as many as we picked. He had fun running up and down the rows, eating as many as he could grab.

My mom put up a swing for Payton to play in. He loved it, and always wanted someone to push him.

We walked down to the shore, and played on the rocks. The water by their house is way to strong and dangerous to swim in, but Payton made sure to get wet in all the puddles.

Of course we spent TONS of time with Jasmine. I miss this girl tons! She is the best Aunt ever, and Payton loved playing with “Jazzy.”

One of the reason’s we decided to go when we did was so I could be at my friend Nadine’s wedding. We have been friends for as long as I can remember. I think since we lived next door to each other when we were 1. It was so great to be able to be at her absolutely beautiful wedding. She was breathtaking! We loved being able to attend!

The day before we flew home, My mom planned an early birthday Party for Payton. She made a some delicious sides and a cake, and we had a cookout on the shore by my Grandparents cottage.

It was fun to spend some time on the shore I have so many memories of. We had tons of cookouts there, so it was fun to have one with Payton

Payton loved blowing out the Candles on his cake. The cutest thing is that my mom taught him to say “I’m two” and hold up two fingers, one one each hand.
We loved visiting my grandparents! They are so wonderful, and I miss them so much. We were able to stop and see them a few times. My nanny spoiled Payton rotten with toys, books and puzzles.

Everyone was so kind and gave Payton some wonderful birthday presents. He had a blast opening them, and we brought them all back to Idaho. He loves playing with all the toys he got!

We got a few pictures of family. My aunt Gail and Uncle John were visiting, and they FINALLY got to meet Payton. We enjoyed spending time with them, and hope it isn’t another 3 years before seeing them again!

The last evening we were there, my uncle took us mackerel fishing. Devry finally has a Nova scotia fishing story. He caught 4 all at the same time. Talented guy! It was amazing to see how many fish people were catching at high tide.

We had such an incredible trip! It was so great to see family, enjoy Nova Scotia, and have a break. We wish we could go more! With Devry’s new job, our trips home may get even more difficult, but we hope to continue to go at least once a year.

July 2011 Nova Scotia Trip Week 1

We had a wonderful trip to see my family. Payton did so well on the flights, and loved every minute of being spoiled rotten. The First week we stayed with my dad. We had such a fun week visiting family, going to the beach, going to the wildlife park, and just relaxing at their beautiful ocean front home.

Payton loved visiting "Grampie" and "nan." It is so confusing for him though, to know who is who. He has a Grandma and Grandpa (Devrys Parents), A Grampie and Nan (my dad and Elizabeth), Nanny and Grandpa Trent (My mom and Trent), plus Grammy and Grandad (my grandparents on my moms side), and Great Nanny ( my dads mom). It's confusing enough for me, I can understand why Payton constantly called people the wrong name.

Here are some pictures of the week we spent with my Dad and Elizabeth.

Payton was a bit shy at first, but within a few minutes was loving every minute with Grampie and Nan.

We Visited my Nanny, and my little Sister Kayleigh came too. I'm glad Payton is so social and warms up to most people so quickly. He loved both of them!

We took Payton the the wild life park. It was a lot of fun because I went there SO many times as a kid. It really hasn't changed.

We Fed the ducks.

And Saw lots of animals. Payton Loved the bears the most.


The next 2 pictures were actually Devry's idea. Growing up in Nova Scotia, the tides were never something I thought much of. The Bay of Fundy (the part of the ocean both my parents live on) has the highest tides in the world. Devry couldn't believe it when he first saw it, and wanted to take some pictures.

So here is Low tide.

And here is high tide.

We enjoyed watching the tides, and also Playing in the water. Well.. Payton enjoyed playing in the water. It was WAY too cold for us, but this tough kid will play in water at any temperature!
He loved throwing rocks with Devry. Devry was skipping rocks and Payton would try to copy him.

Walking through the freezing cold water.

The only one brave enough to get in the water was Kayleigh. Payton is lucky to have such a great Aunt!

He Gradually got deeper and deeper in the water, until he was dunking his head under.

Rocks are definitely a favorite toy!

Payton was combing the beach with Grampie and Nan. They collect beach glass and are always combing the beach.

I just love this guy. Isn't he just so hot!!

And now you get to see true excitement of being in the water....

I love this picture of Payton and Kayleigh. Payton was copying her when she plugged her nose. The part of the picture I missed was when Kayleigh dunked under...so did payton. It was too cute!

Daddy and Payton digging on the beach.

And here is a picture of me. Just to prove that I really AM there. I just prefer to be behind the camera.

We got to visit my Nanny a few times while we were home. We also got to see my aunts and uncles! Payton finally got to meet my Aunt gail and Uncle Joe. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of him with them. I am a horrible photographer..taking pictures is always an afterthought for me.

We had so much fun visiting my dad and Elizabeth. It is always so nice to go home and spend some relaxing time with them. Payton LOVED every minute of our trip, and was so entertained with all the new things to see and do. I just wish we could go more often!

Today

Yesterday I spend a lot of the day cleaning. It still amazes me how quickly a 2 year old can mess things up.
Today I went visiting teaching, took Payton to his 2 year well check, came home made lunch and just barely put him down for a nap. I looked around and felt overwhelmed with how messy my house had become since yesterday. I was thinking I should get to work cleaning.

But....instead. I'm going to take a nap. Because I have to work tonight. Because I'm tired. Because I don't NEED to clean. So Today I am leaving my house like this....


And this.....

And I am not cleaning the bathrooms like I should, or mowing the lawn, or doing laundry.
But I AM taking a much needed nap.

Adjusting.

I promise I haven't disappeared. We are slowly adjusting to the new changes in our lives. Payton and I are missing Devry so much. It is amazing how much more I notice all the things he did around the house, that are now my responsibility. I am learning how to pretty much be a single working mom. There never seems to be enough time in the day for everything, so blogging has taken a back seat. I NEED to get caught up and post about our trip to Nova Scotia, Payton's Birthday, all the silly things payton is up to, and our quick trip to visit Devry in Rock Springs. I am hoping I can get a bit caught up this week.
Devry is doing training all of this month, so he left August 7th and probably won't be home till the end of the month, or next month. We can't wait till he actually starts his schedule of 8 days on then 6 days off. I am still working full time nights. Hopefully that will change in November. It may be a few difficult months, but we will make it. Thankfully Devry's family is close, and his parents have been wonderful about watching Payton for me while I work. I don't know what I would do without them.
I hope I can get adjusted some more and be able to find more time for blogging.

Sneak Peak of our Trip and Other news

We had such a fun trip to Nova Scotia! Payton did great on the flights there and back, and we had 2 weeks packed full of fun, family and friends. Here are a few pictures of our trip. I will post again with a more pictures and stories from our trip. So here is a sneak peak!




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We have some major life changes coming up very soon. The week before we left, we were very stressed about jobs for Devry, and about leaving for 2 weeks without knowing. Just a day or two before we left for NS, Devry was given a job offer with Haliburton as a Diesel technician. After MUCH fasting and prayer, we decided that although this job would take him out of town half of the time, it was what we needed to do. So on August 5th Devry will start working in Rock Springs, WY. He will work 8 days, then be home for 6. It will be a huge change and probably very challenging, but we both know it is the best thing for our family right now. We are able to stay in our home and avoid paying a penalty for moving before 3 years of owning the home. I am able to keep my job that I love, and financially able to cut back to 2 shifts a week. At first I was looking to cut back to 2 nights a week, but unfortunately my boss wouldn't let me unless a position for it opened up. Then 2 day shift positions opened, both Regular Part Time (2 days a week). We decided that since we already would be paying a babysitter for 2-3 nights per week (when devry is gone), and also for a few hours in the daytime after I work, it would be better for me to apply for the day shift positions, and only have to have a babysitter 2 days a week, every other week or so. So I have applied to go to day shift. At first I was worried about it, but the more I consider the possibility, the more excited I am. I will have a normal schedule, where I sleep at nights and am awake during the day. I won't be a cranky zombie mom the days I am off. I was so stressed about leaving Payton for such long days, but after thinking about it, I realized there will only be 4-5 shifts a month that Devry is gone for and I have people I trust to leave him with. Making this change will make it so I am more of a mom when I am home. Now I just have to wait and hope that I get one of the positions.
We are very excited to have a new chapter of our lives. We aren't sure where this job will lead us, but we are sure that it will take us where we need to be.

Happy Father's Day!

I am so grateful for all the wonderful "father's" in my life. I am lucky enough to have my dad, my step-dad, and my father in law. All wonderful men who are such a positive influence on me. I am especially lucky to have Devry. He is such a kind, thoughtful caring man, and the most wonderful father! Payton adores him so much, and it is so fun to see them play together. He really is the best father and husband ever! We love you Devry, more then we can ever say! xoxo

Crazy week

Last week was absolutely nuts!
Devry got a call on Monday from Ryder (trucking company in Michigan). He has heard from them about a diesel mechanic position a few times. Well they called to let him know they wanted an interview...on Friday! He had already asked for a phone interview, but the secretary said they wouldn't do a phone interview. Devry and I talked about it and decided he'd better go. After looking at plane tickets, we decided we could afford for both of us to go. So I traded a shift, we asked some wonderful family members to watch Payton for us for 3 days, and we booked the flights, hotel and rental car.
I spent all day Tuesday packing and cleaning, then worked tuesday night. We left as soon as I got home Wednesday morning. We dropped Payton off and headed to Salt Lake. We were so glad we had family to watch Payton. It would have been so hard to take him, since we wouldn't get into Detroit until late at night, and we had 2 1/2 days of craziness. So we flew out at 2pm, and arrived in Detroit at midnight. We got our rental and drove to Livonia (where the Ryder place is..about 30 minutes outside of Detroit). We found our hotel and crashed. I had maybe slept 3 hours off and on while driving and flying since 7am on Tuesday morning, and it was 1:30 am Thursday morning.
I had made a few phone calls on our drive to Salt Lake to some hospitals. Some nurse recruiters had gotten back to me and set up interviews. My first meeting was at 8 am on Thursday morning. It went well, except they didn't have any Labor and Delivery positions open. But they said if any open up I will most likely get it since I have experience.
Then we drove to Ann Arbor. We went and saw University of Michigan, and a bit of the area. Then I had another interview at 3:30. I met with the Nurse recruiter, who told me a bit about the hospital. Then I met with the nurse manager over L&D. She asked me a bit about my experience, then gave me an "unofficial" offer. She said I should expect to hear from the HR person this week with the official offer. The hospital was SO nice. Brand new L&D unit, with 6 high risk rooms, 14 LDR's, 6 Antepartum rooms, and 8 triage rooms. It is a teaching hospital, so there would be residents, and 24/7 EVERYTHING. Pay is really good, and the people seemed very nice. I was impressed with it, and think I would enjoy working there.
Then we did a bit of shopping, and saw more of the area. We were starting to get a bit more oriented to the area and could start to pick out areas we would want to live.
We returned to the hotel and crashed again.
Friday morning Devry went to his interview. It went really well, except for a couple of things. The hiring manager asked why they didn't just do a phone interview. When Devry told him the secretary said he wouldn't do it, the guy was like "oh i'll need to talk to her, there is no reason you needed to come out for this." ugh. frustrating. It was more of a preliminary interview anyways. There are 2 more people who will have to interview him (but the guy said they will make sure to do that over the phone). AND he found out what the shift is (which was posted nowhere, and noone said anything about it before this). It is a 3pm to 11pm shift. That would be VERY hard for us, since my shifts would be 7pm to 7am. That would leave at least 4 hours where we would have to find someone to watch payton, and we don't know anyone there.
The hiring manager did mention a job that is going to be opening up at a different shop, in Ann Arbor (way closer to my job). He put his application in for that position as well. If he got that one it would work much better.
On Friday afternoon we drove around and saw a few houses available to rent, and continued to get a better idea of what area we liked best. I heard from a few more nurse recruiters and managers from other hospitals. I am starting to get the feeling that experienced labor nurses are in hard to find, because every person I talked to was VERY interested in hiring me.
Then we flew back to SLC friday night, and drove to Rexburg. We pulled in around 4am, slept for 2 hours, and went to pick up Payton at 6:30. I slept a bit more that day, then went to work.
It was a very exhausting, but fun week. We enjoyed going and seeing the area, and enjoyed some time alone together.
Our problem now is that we have NO CLUE what to do next. If we both get job offers it would probably mean moving before selling our house, which is scary. It will mean moving to an area that we don't know anyone, or have the help and support with Payton that we do here. But there are just no opportunities here for Devry.
Devry also interviewed for a Diesel Mechanic position in North Dakota, working in the Oil Fields. That went GREAT, except that he has a bachelor's degree. Apparently being a high school drop out is just fine, but if you have an education you have to go through this huge process to be considered. The guy who interviewed him was really impressed and wanted to hire him, but he had to go through the Senior recruiter since Devry has a degree. He got a call today to go for an interview tomorrow with the Sr. Recruiter. That job definitely has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• LOTS of money. He will get paid VERY well, and I can cut back to part time (or maybe even less). We will be able to save alot of money, and pay off our car.
• Training - They want to hire people that they can train. They are impressed with his experience working on a farm, but are glad he hasn't been trained by another shop/company. I guess they like to do it their way.
  
• Experience - So many jobs require experience, and Devry really doesn't have much as a mechanic. He has TONS on a farm, which includes fixing everything, but not technically as a technician. This will give him a lot of experience, and qualify him for more jobs in the future.
  

Disadvantages:

• It is in North Dakota. Or maybe Wyoming, depends on where they need him. If it were in ND, they fly him back and forth. He would would 15 days on, then have 6 days off. WY would be the same, except it is closer (4 hrs away), so he would drive back and forth. It would be very hard to be here without him the majority of the time. We would only do it for a year (max).....but still it would be SO hard.
• We would have to get a babysitter for Payton the nights I work. I would probably just hire a student (who I trust) to come over, put him to bed and stay the night here. It would be an easy job, but still hard to leave him that often with someone else.
  

I hate hard decisions. For now we are just waiting to see what opens up. We had our house appraised last week. That was VERY discouraging. It appraised for 7000 less then what we bought it for...and we have put 15000 into it. So basically if we move out or sell it before February we are going to take a major hit. What we sell it for should be enough to cover what we owe on it, but it won't cover any of the 8000 government stimulus we will have to pay back. So we have to decide if it is worth taking a hit to move for better job opportunities, and better pay. That is really why the job in the oil fields is so tempting. We would make more money then if we moved, but not have to loose any money on the house. Then in February we could drop the price of the house a bit and hopefully sell it and owe nothing. Then look to move. It sounds so ideal...but then I think about how Devry will be so far away the majority of the time. I don't really want to be a single mom.
We don't really know what we will do. We are trying to be positive and look at all of our options. We know something will work out, but its just hard to see what. We are trying to be prayerful about our decisions, and have faith that it will work out.