The past 5 months!

Okay, okay, I know how terrible I have been. I can't believe I let a whole 5 months go by with nothing. Time has gone so fast. I knew it had been a while, but 5 months?! That even surprised me. Anyway, some of you may get bored in reading my long entry and I don't blame you, but atleast you can see a few pictures of the boys and how much they have grown up.
Since my last post a lot of things have happened, first of which was Tel's 2nd birthday. We had some friends over to help us celebrate (James and Camille Whiting and family). It was a small and simple birthday but I think he enjoyed it. Although I think he would have rather just been allowed to play with the other kids the entire time and not be stopped for birthday cake.
The very last week of May, the Saturday after Casey's last day of school in Riverton we loaded up our U-haul with some help from friends in Lander and my dad and brother, Tyson--thank you all. Tyson and my dad took our subaru for us that evening and were going to bring it back to Cokeville for us. Anyway, at the top of South Pass, the engine blew on the Subaru. Luckily they were able to get cell service and give us a call, and thanks to a good friend, Tawn Gopp, from Riverton, we were able to get it towed to his house in Riverton that night and knew it was in good, honest hands, in getting fixed. We were blessed in that way. On Sunday, Casey and I, with the boys, headed out and got as far as Cokeville. That Monday we were able to move our things into the duplex we were renting here in Afton. We worked on that, Mon.-Tues. and then were back in Cokeville because I had Volleyball camp in Cokeville Wed.-Sat. Well, Thursday night, Tel got a pretty high fever. He had been acting a little funny for a few days, but we thought it was because of the move because he always wanted to go "home". Well, we kept him at our duplex that night and watched him close and kept Tylenol in him, but even with that his fever never went under 101 and he was pretty listless by morning. We took him in to the clinic here in Afton and had to wait well over an hour for someone to get to us. Anyway, once they did they immediately put him in the hospital with pneumonia. We spent the next 3 days in the hospital with him. My mom came to help that first night so Casey and I could take shifts during the night without having to wake up Kimball and drag him along during the switch. Ramona, Casey's mom, also came up to help out when we found out Tel was going to be in the hospital for a few days. It was so nice to have her visit. We enjoyed her company and were grateful for her concern and love. We did take a drive the first day Tel was back home and took Ramona up to see the Tetons. They were clouded over a bit, but still beautiful. Needless to say, our first week was very eventful.
Since then, our summer has gone very well and we have done a lot of fun things. We spent a few days up in Oregon with Casey's sister Kamala and her family. I was able to experience clamming and crabbing for the first time and guess with quite a bit of success. We caught a ton of crabs off some docks, but only 14 of them were big enough to keep. I am told that is pretty good. We also got to go berry picking, which may have been Tel's favorite part of the whole trip, other than the balloon-monkey hat he got at the farmer's market.
We spent the 4th of July with Casey's family in Mt. Pleasant and had a great time there, as always. It is always so fun to see everyone and watch Cameron's amazing fireworks show, which Tel loved this year!
After that trip we did a little less traveling. We visited with friends, Dave and Liza, in Pocatello and they came to visit us, which is alway fun. Kathy and Ramona(Casey's sister and mom) also came to visit for a few days. We always enjoy company. Casey had a football camp and I had a volleyball camp but other than that we were okay to stay home, go fishing, and try out our new boats on Cottonwood Lake. Tel is still all about going fishing. He will pretend that just about anything is a fishing pole and dangle it over any sort of edge and say he is going fishing. At one of the vball games in Cokeville this fall, eh was doing this little game with his blanked on the bleachers. In the middle of fishing he looked over at my mom (Granny) and headed over to her. When he got to her he looked closely at the earrings she was wearing and took one out and said, "hook?" We took him to a fishing store with us to get some supplies the 2nd time we headed out with him. When we went into the store he spied the little kid fishing poles before we ever did and when I caught up to him he was standing in front of them saying, "Oh man! Oh gosh!" over and over again. We just had to get him one after that! It was pretty funny.
At the beginning of August I was feeling a rejuvenated and headed out to Indiana with Taffy to visit Violet and Austin. Taffy and I took Mariah and Kimball with us and left our husbands with the other kids. We spent a week out there with Violet and had a lot of fun. I don't know that we have ever spent that much time together all in one week. We talked about everything and went and saw some neat things. It was a great week!
Our last little adventure before the school year started was doing the El Vaquero Loco race here in Afton. You can choose to do the 25K or the 50K. We did the 25K. It was about 15 miles back in the mountains. It was a lot of up and down hill and we hiked quite a bit of it. It was a ton of fun and absolutely beautiful! I would recommend that race to anyone who loves to trail run and hike. I haven't done a lot of it before, but Casey and I think we may have found we like it better than a marathon.
After that race 2-a-days started for f-ball and v-ball and Casey's meetings started. That week fo 2-a-days was rough on the boys and me, because they were spending so much time and the babysitter's and we were missing eachother, but we survived and now they are usually excited to go play with the other kids for a couple hours during practice. Tel has picked up on a lot more words too, which I credit some of that to being around other kids that are talking to him and expecting him to respond. We really like the family that is taking the boys and are so grateful they agreed to do it.
At the end of August we ended up buying a home just west of Afton, which we are very happy about. We have a great view of the upper valley from our upstairs and downstairs windows.
Overall, we are really enjoying Star Valley and are beginning to make some great friends. We miss Lander and our friends and ward there, as you always do after a move, but things are going well and we have been extremely blessed.
Okay, so I am trying to add some pictures to this post but I am not finding most of my pictures from this summer--hope I can. I have the ones from May and from September and I downloaded all of those at the same time so I have no idea where all the ones in between have gone. Anyway, here are a few pictures.

Saying goodbye to our house in Lander.

Up the Sinks after loading the U-haul.

First meal at the hospital.

First night at the hospital.

The Tetons with Grandma Parry.

Little Buddies

Pictures of Tel and Kimball from this past week.

Tel's Birthday!

Tel turned 2 years old this past Sunday (May 24th). I can't believe it! Time goes so fast. For his birthday party we invited the Whiting's over (a family in our ward) with 8 kids. Tel loves them (as do Casey and I) so we thought he'd enjoy having them over. He was pretty oblivious to what was going on but he did blow out his candle and has enjoyed his gifts. It was a bit of a fight to get him into the house to have birthday cake. He just wanted to keep playing outside with all the other kids. He got a new tricycle for his birthday from his mom and dad which he loves and pretty much wants to be on all day long, a spiderman soap dispenser from the Whiting's, and a new shirt and pants, book and backpack from his Grandma and Grandpa Parry. It was a great day!

The boys!

Tel always gets a ride in the laundry basket on laundry days and on this particular day he thought Kimball needed to get in with him. Kimball is not looking too sure about this idea.


This is just a picture of Kimball before church wearing a onesie that Casey once wore.


Tel wearing a sweater that was once Casey's as well. This is Tel's idea of cooperating for a picture. I really tried to get one of the two of them together in their dad's old clothes but Tel obviously wasn't in the mood.


Outside at Grandma and Grandpa Parry's house.


Swinging in the hammock swing at Grandma and Grandpa Parry's.

Our New Kitchen!

Just a few before and after pictures of our kitchen.


BEFORE



DURING


AFTER

Change

Life is full of changes and Casey and I always seem to thrive on that for some odd reason. I don't always enjoy every part of every change, but looking back on all the changes we have gone through since we've been married I can't say I regret any of those that we chose to make.
We are making some more big changes in our lives right now by moving to Star Valley, WY at the end of this month. We have LOVED our time here in Lander, and most of all we love our ward and the friends we have made. We are sad to leave them and our house that we bought last year and have put an addition on and completely renovated. We have only lived in our new home for 10 months (will be 11 when we move). The past year has been crazy with house projects that I won't miss terribly since I feel like they have taken over my life. I am ready to focus on simply being a mother to two beautiful little boys. But as crazy as the year has been, living in a constant construction zone, it has paid off in the way that we have already got our home under contract and should be closing on it June 3rd or sooner. It is a crazy story but we got an offer for over our asking price without ever even having a 'for sale' sign in our yard or listing with a realtor. What a blessing in these economic times! We only hope that things continue to go smoothly through the closing.
Casey will be teaching Spanish at SVHS and I will be the freshmen volleyball coach. Both of these roles will also bring change. Casey is not hired on to coach any sports right now and I will be taking on that role for the fall season. This will be a BIG change for Casey since he coaches year-round here. I think it will be good for our family though. Casey will get to spend some more time with just him and our boys and I will get a couple hours away from the house each day during that time of year, which I hear can be a good thing for a full-time mom.
We are excited for the upcoming changes and are thankful for all that we have been blessed with.

We have been blessed!

Well, today we were reminded just how quickly life can change. On his way to work this morning, Casey was in a wreck. The roads were slick because of the new snow on the roads and just south of Hudson (between Lander and Riverton)a truck fish tailed out of control and ended up broad-siding Casey right on the driver's side. It knocked him off the road and into the barrow pit. The car was totaled but it could have been so much worse. Casey walked away with some minor scrapes and a sore shoulder and back, but nothing serious. The driver of the truck was okay as well. What a blessing! It really got me thinking though. Every morning Casey goes to work it could be the last time I see him. Granted, we can't allow things like this to keep us from living life. In fact, it's these types of things that remind me we must live each day to it's fullest, because it could be our last. I am just so grateful the Lord was watching over us today and hope He will continue to do so.

Catching Up

Okay, so I know it has been far too long since my last post. Many family members have been requesting that I post some updated pictures of Kimball so here they are. I also want to catch up a little bit on what we have been doing this past month since Kimball has been born.
We were able to enjoy a nice quiet Christmas here at home with just the 4 of us. Kimball, only being a couple days old at the time, slept through the day. Tel got to open plenty of presents thanks to grandparents and aunts and uncles. He thoroughly enjoyed ripping the paper and opening any boxes to see what was hidden inside. Of course, with a couple choice items (mostly his new power drill and tool set and his cowboy boots) we had to take a break and let him play for a bit before he was ready to open any more presents. It was different for us to not be at one set of the parents' homes but we enjoyed it and had one of the greatest gifts of all, a new little boy. I guess Kimball was our present to eachother since we didn't buy for eachother this year. The other great thing about Christmas was that Casey had 2 weeks off of school and we got to see him so much. Tel especially enjoyed having his dad home and playing with him outside. He has had a bit of a hard time adjusting to having Dad gone everyday again. Having Kimball take up so much of my time has also been hard for him but over all he has done pretty well.
At the beginning of this month we were able to attend Mariah's baby blessing (Taffy's new little girl) in Mt. View. It was the first time in quite a while that my WHOLE family was together. We were also able to attend Violet and Austin's reception in Cokeville which was another great time spent with family. The day before the reception we were able to drive to Logan, UT and get some tile for when we redo our kitchen, dining room and laundry room. We spent the night with Casey's brother Stewart, his wife Tiffany and their kids Alana and William. It was fun to see them.
On Sat. the 10th Casey was gone wrestling in Sheridan so I made a day trip to Cokeville to watch Olivia play basketball against Mt. View. She did a great job and it was fun to see her play as well as see the rest of the family. Tel absolutely loves going to see his Aunts, Uncle Sulli, and his Grandma and Grandpa Teichert. Taffy was also there with her kids so it was fun to see them again.
On the 14th I was able to go to Mt. View for the afternoon and night and spend some time with Taffy and her kids. It was a lot of fun. Taffy and I both decided that we would never want to have a 5 yr old, 3yr old, 19 month old and twin babies. It was all we could do to keep some order, the babies happy, and get dinner on the table with both of us being quite busy. I'm not sure how mothers with that many children so close in age do it. I struggle accomplishing much of anything with just Tel and Kimball. I'm sure Casey comes home many days and wonders what I did since the dishes are not done, the laundry not yet folded, and the house is completely torn apart (Thanks to Tel's curiosity and energy). Maybe someday I will figure out how to "do it all" but for now I am surviving.
Anyway, the following day I headed down to Mt. Pleasant to spend some time with Casey's family. I got to spend some time with Diana in Spanish Fork and then headed to Chris and Ramona's for a couple days. We had a great time with them and were able to just enjoy visiting and spending time together. On Saturday we drove back up to UVU to watch Casey's wrestling team at a tournment they had there. We were able to see some good friends from Idaho Falls while we were there. It was so nice to see them and visit with them a little bit. We still miss all of them. It was pretty late before I got out of there so I headed to Cokeville for the night and got to spend time with my parents and Olivia and Tessa which is always so much fun. The next morning we got out the door fairly early to make it back here to Lander for our 1:00 meetings. It was long 5 days but it was so nice to see everyone.
This past week I just stayed home, which after all the traveling was quite nice. I was able to get a few things organized and some pictures hung on the walls and decorations up (yes I am just now getting around to that even though we have been in this house since the beginning of July).
On Saturday we did go over to Thermopolis to watch Casey's wrestlers. They did a great job in the tournament taking 1st place as a team. He had 6 wrestlers take 1st, 1 take 2nd, and then a few others taking 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. It was fun to watch, though with Tel and Kimball in tow I don't get to watch much. Tel has a hard time at the wrestling because he just wants his dad and can't understand why he can't be with Dad when he is RIGHT THERE!
Well, that is quite the novel but gets me caught up for this month. I am going to try to start posting weekly but you all know how my promises on that go so don't get your hopes up too high.