Trip Back Home

*August 18, 2010*

Once I found out that my sister was pregnant with my second nephew, the idea to go surprise her for her shower instantly popped into my head! It was just a thought really. I wasn't quite sure I could pull it off or not! I had three wild and crazy kids at home. It would, without question, require some definite planning. So I tucked the idea away for a few months. 

Later on, some major events were happening in our own family. Like finding out I was pregnant also and John would be soon deploying. I had to act fast if I wanted my idea to surprise her become a reality. I called up my brother-in-law and ran through my idea with him. He thought it would be awesome to be there for her shower and spend some time with her and the family before John deployed. He said we'd talk when it got closer to me flying out and he would pick me up from the airport no problem. I also wrote to her sweet friend that was going to throw her her baby shower. I asked her to fill me in with the details of when it would be as soon as she knew so I could book my ticket. Also for good measure, I told my Dad I was coming out there. So only 3 people back home knew what was in the works. The rest I wanted to surprise! 

{Me and my snuggle bugs before leaving for the airport}

I was beyond excited! And nervous. John was taking a week off of work to be at home with the kids but it was still hard being away from my babies for that long. And even when we pulled up to the airport, I was debating whether to take Andrew with me or not. John firmly convinced me to go alone since I hardly ever get a break - to have fun and not to worry about the children. That they would be fine and would see me in a week. Boy oh boy was that a hard one for me to swallow! I felt torn between two good things: wanting to go alone and wanting to be with my babies! I remember tears forming in my eyes as John hugged me on the curb and the kids waved and cried from inside our truck. The only way he got me to stay strong and not completely breakdown was to tell me a funny joke and make me smile. I just love him! So hard to see them drive off and leave me for my flight. After I checked in though and the minutes went more and more by....I felt fine. Funny how you can't wait to get a break from them and the daily chaos but once you get the break, you miss them more than anything and want them back. (Only to want a break again!) :) As a mom, a break is much needed and deserved no matter how much the kids are missed. I have definitely learned that one!

I remember calling up my brother-in-law the day or two before my flight to check in and make sure he'd be there to get me and he said, "oh...I completely forgot! I am so glad you called to remind me!" Hahaha apparently, come to find out, he's not that great at keeping surprises. So maybe it was BEST that he forgot all about it! I was just a big ball of nerves on the drive to their house. She was with my Dad at the time putting up wainscoting in the baby's nursery and my brother-in-law said he had to go help someone (I can't remember details anymore) so she, as far as we knew, had no idea that something was up. In fact, seeing her reaction, I'm pretty certain she had no idea I was on my way out to see her! 

So we drove up and with the nursery being in the front of the house, I had to hurry up the drive pretty fast and sneaky. I ditched my bags in the car until later. I walked down the hallway towards the room and they were still busy at work nailing up the wainscoting. I cracked open the door and said, "Hey Erin! Do you need any help?" And she turned around and then back to her work and then did a double take....she looked at me with this big stunned look on her face! It was fun that this surprise carried out till the end! I was soooo happy to see her and be there for a week! :)

Here's what the week looked like:

Me and my cute lunch buddy! After I got to my sisters, I felt sad that I hadn't brought Andrew along. He would have had a blast playing with his cousin. But....we made it work! ;) No visit back to the NW goes without a trip to many favorites. One of which is BURGERVILLE! Super delicious! (Notice I didn't say "super healthy!") Mmmm! 

And yes, I got made fun of for taking a picture of my food. But man was it GOOD!!! Totally worth the picture! Those shakes are to die for! :)

And I took my sister out for pedicures. She looked so cute pregnant! We had so much fun finally hanging out like sisters often get to do! I really miss seeing her so I'm happy we got this time together sans kids. I am seriously swallowing my pride posting this picture of myself on her behalf! I know I was about 10 weeks pregnant here but...I'm going to be nice to myself and leave it at that! ;) We had fun though! It was such a treat as it had been at least a year since I last had one.

So onto her baby shower. Her friends put on this absolutely cute baby shower  and the dessert table was so fun with ice cream bowls with toppings galore! 

And these sweet sugar cookie party favors with the little man's first initial.

Cute set up with baby's name!

{Me and my sis!}

{Me, my Grandmother and my Mom}

My Mom didn't know I was going to be there so when she saw me, she jumped and clasped her mouth and shook her head and then said, "SHUT UP!!" hahaha Yeah, guess I caught her off guard. It was a good surprise.

And here are a few of my cute 1st nephew - the soon-to-be big brother! He is SO busy and definitely kept me going nonstop the entire time I was there! He's adorable! It was so much fun being with him during my stay. I miss being an active Aunt in his life! By that I mean, close by. Thankfully we do all that we can to stay close across all the ridiculous miles. It made me realize how much I look forward to the day our family gets permanent roots so we can have our families close by again! Really love and miss them all!

A trip to Fred Meyer is always a fun trip. Especially when you get close to anything TILLAMOOK!! :)

I saved telling family that we were expecting another baby until this trip. I was still a few months away from getting my ultrasound but I was happy to finally let the cat out of the bag. That was one heck of a long time keeping that just between John and I. We surprised the kids before I flew out. We always make sure they're one of the very firsts to know! I also wanted to make sure I got through my first trimester with things going well before sharing our news. 

My cousin got married so we attended their wedding reception! 

Took a trip on Max (public train) to downtown one day with my step mom after we grabbed some lunch at Baja Fresh and did a little shopping. We wandered around one of our favorite bookstores - Powell's Bookstore - looking for a few books to get John from his ever growing wish list! And I had heard about a cupcake shop called Cupcake Jones. So we stopped there too and got ourselves a treat. I do have to say it wasn't the best I've ever had. It was a bit dry. But still a fun treat and a cute window display!

I thought it was cool that on this day when we took the train, the kids and John were taking a train as well - but to the Washington D.C. Zoo! Andrew loves trains so I knew it would be a fun time.

Visited with my Step Dad and went out to dinner one night.

Here you can see the start of my baby bump! :)

Also went to his house one night with my sister and her family and had dinner there with him.

Went to another favorite place of mine: the Portland Oregon Temple. My mom and I had a nice time together before she had to head into work and took a nice walk around the grounds.

She then dropped me off at my old office so I could have lunch with one of my dear friends and old co-workers from the clinic. We always have fun catching up!

We were able to squeeze in another favorite before I had to head back home. Lunch at Red Robin! Well, we actually live right around the corner from one back in Virginia but that's besides the point! Can't go wrong with a good burger or some fun family time! :)

{My nephew, Dad, me and my Step Mom}

And then after 2 long flights later...I was reunited with my sweethearts! Boy were we all glad to see each other again! Missed them way too much! :)

This week in Oregon/Washington went by entirely way too fast as it seems they always do when you're having fun! And I didn't get to see as many people and places as I had tried to squeeze in such a short amount of time but I am forever thankful that I got this opportunity to fly back and see my loved ones and visit with as many people as I had time for. It really recharged my spirit before having to pull the single mom thing for 6 months here shortly! So grateful for the memories made that will last a lifetime and beyond! And so grateful this trip was even possible with John being scheduled to deploy just a few weeks later after my return. I sure love my man! He's simply amazing to have given me this sweet gift to go spend a week with family when I know he too wanted to be there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some other things I was able to do on this trip that I didn't get a picture of:

* a few neighborhood walks

* went to church

* watched Mulan and ate a late night helping of toast and scrambled eggs with my Dad

* bbq with my sister and brother-in-law's friends

* bbq at my Dad & Step Mom's (later stayed up watching movies and eating licorice and ice cream)

*went to breakfast with my Mom

* ate by myself at the airport. Something I'm not used to really doing but kind of cool (after the feeling weird part)! haha

When Trials Become Blessings

Some recent changes have transpired within our family - best described as both exciting and difficult. I'm still quite not ready to openly talk about these specific life events but I did want to let you know that we're all doing great and surviving the triple digit heat here! When I feel ready, which will hopefully be soon, I will document these family changes. But right now, I just need to adjust and get over the "deer in the headlights" feeling. Life tends to throw us curve balls from time to time. We are given situations that we have to learn to get through. I felt that I owed my readers an explanation of why I haven't been blogging as much this month (even though I keep this blog primarily as a family journal so I don't have any pressure to write a certain amount of posts) - I've just had to take a step back for a bit and take some time to reflect and get things done. I'm foreseeing August being just as busy as this month - or even busier due to the changes! Thankfully, we have some upcoming events that we're looking forward to:

• John graduating with his Bachelors!
• Beach Trip!!!
• School starting soon...this year for both Aubrey AND Jocelyn! :)
• Soccer, piano, choir, xylophone, activity days, story time at the library and school activities.
• And Andrew will naturally keep me busy - as usual. Climbing is his favorite game at the moment.

After re-reading all of the upcoming events and activities we will be involved in, I don't think I need to worry about finding myself a hobby! A sanity check? Yes!! The kids will have me beat!

{My kids after church ended. Andrew's saying "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!"}

One more exciting thing before I wrap up this post...Andrew went to nursery at church for the entire class for the first time. I can't believe my sweet, little 19 month old Andrew is now old enough to be part of the primary. We went in the the nursery a few months ago to help out with one of the teachers. Of course, he did relatively well since I was in the classroom with him. But this time was a bit of a different story. I was walking down the hall to get him from nursery to find him being held and comforted in the hall with his teacher.

When I initially took him to class, he clung to my leg pretty tight. But the teachers in there are husband and wife and they do an awesome job and got him distracted pretty quickly. I took this as my opportunity to leave and let him get acquainted with his new sunday school class until he turns 3. (Which he will then go into the primary as a Sunbeam.) Apparently the first 30 minutes after I left went fine and he especially enjoyed snack time. But after that point, it all went downhill. Blood and all! Well, I think he either bit his mouth somehow or it could be from his eye teeth breaking through. It's also smack dab in the middle of his normal nap time. So they just walked the halls to pass time. As soon as he saw me walking towards him after church was over, he had the biggest puppy dog face and pout and reached out for me. It was kinda sad but sooooo cute! He'll adjust to nursery. I'm sure of it. He thankfully wasn't as near as difficult as Jocelyn was in the nursery. She clung to me every time I tried to go - every Sunday! And cried most of the class time too. So I know after a few Sundays, it will be part of Andrew's normal routine to be there with his friends learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

{Andrew's 1st Sunday going to nursery! Such a big boy!}

Chancellorsville Battlefield

Okay. Just so you know, this summer has been quite the deal for us. HOT, boring at times and how should I put this nicely...I'm tired of my kids fighting and me playing the ref every 2 seconds of the day. Thankfully, we have a lot of fun times to balance it all out! Our beach trip in August really couldn't come soon enough! I have a feeling that once Fall is here, everyone will be jumping for joy! I will be Fall's biggest fan!

But with that said, I have still tried to find fun adventures to take my kids on. After being stuck inside for a couple of days, we broke out and traveled to another battlefield in the area we had yet to see since moving to Virginia. Despite the heat (which was why we didn't want to escape and go anywhere for those few days) - I just HAD to get them out of the house and get some fresh air and get their wiggles out.

So since we've seen the Fredericksburg Battlefield sites (many, many times!) I thought it would be neat to venture out to a neighboring battlefield in Chancellorsville. The history here is amazing! Unfortunately, I don't remember ever learning this stuff in high school. That may be why I'm so interested in it now. It's all very fascinating to me. And I'm glad my kids enjoy it too! There was a 30 minute video inside the Visitor's Center that I opted to save for another day (ie: help with the kids!)...so we spent our time around the building to see the information signs they had posted and walked along a short trail to Jackson's monument.

Next up, we hopped back into the truck and drove a section of the driving tour to see the other surrounding battlefield sites. Of course when we got to one area with the cannons, all the kids wanted to do was climb on them like they were a playground. Clear indication we needed to go to the park - and soon! :) After reminding them that we treat history with respect (no more climbing!) we took off for lunch and to give Andrew a much needed nap. We're definitely returning to see the rest. And then we'll have only Wilderness Battlefield and Spotsylvania Battlefield next to visit and then we will be finished touring our area battlefields!