Patxi's home for his Mid-term leave! Part 2

After the museum, it was nap time and they both actually took them, something I didn’t expect.  So Patxi and I took that opportunity to go shopping.  It was so fun because Patxi is such a crack up!  I don’t think I laughed that much in quite some time.  At one point I was literally bending over in laughter because Patxi had picked out a princess gift bag to put Petra and Mikey’s present in.  After I said that I didn’t think Petra was into Disney Princesses anymore,  Patxi said, “No, this is for Mikey.  Who wouldn’t want a bag with five hotties on it.” Man, I’m still laughing about it.  

  We all went to the family dinner to meet Mikey’s family next.  They were so wonderful and open to us and the food was great.  After that, we drove to the church in Rexburg so Patxi could help set things up for the reception.  To my absolute horror, I was going to have to put the kids to bed by myself, something I vowed I would not do during Patxi’s visit.  I had had enough of that and I wanted to get my rightly earned break.  But Sara’s need was so much greater.  Things got pretty stressful, I hear, and Patxi didn’t get home until midnight.   

As soon as we could the next morning, we went back to the church to help with more reception needs.  There, I burnt my hand on the iron and watched how completely Valin’s candy detector worked.  I walked into the gym to see Valin grabbing something from the food table.  I saw that Sara had placed the bags of candy there.  So I asked, “Valin, are you eating candy?” seeing that he is trailing wrappers.  He exuberantly nodded he’s head and said, “ah, huh!”  At least he didn’t lie about it, but we did have a quick lesson about taking things that weren’t ours.  Once everything was beautiful, we left to get ourselves ready.  I’m sad to say that we were almost late.  But we did make it in time to see Dieter and Bridget leaving because their recommends were expired.  I felt so bad for them, having just gotten there after driving all night.  

The sealing was amazing and yet hilarious.  The sealer, with his broken english, was very funny.  Words cannot explain how happy I was to have Patxi there with me, to be reminded of the covenants we made together more than five years ago.  I was so blessed to have that happen! It was beyond incredible to be there with him.   It was great to be in the temple, celebrating Mikey and Petra’s love for each other and the hope of their new life together.  Then, we witnessed a miracle because the sun came out for the pictures. 

We all went to the reception to help with the finishing touches next.  We stopped by my grandparent’s house first to grab a few things, stopped at subway, and then went to the stake center.  By the time we parked, Valin had astoundingly fallen asleep and Patxi volunteered to stay in the car with him so I could go help.  Later, when I got Boston to fall asleep and it grew close to the reception hour, I went out to get them and the car was empty.  I thought that maybe Valin was awake and they went on a walk together.  So I walked all over the church grounds only to find out that Tevye had forgotten to tell me that Patxi took Valin to the mother’s lounge to finish his nap (or so they both could nap).  So then for a good hour I didn’t really know what to do because everyone I was responsible for was sleeping, and Sara’s flawless planning made me job less. Of, course, I stuffed my face with amazing cheesecake, pineapple, and candy.  I wish my family had been awake because we missed taking pictures with Petra and Mikey.  But they did make it to the cake cutting where Petra begged Mikey not to get her dress dirty.  It turned out to be a very quiet exchange, mostly due to Petra’s death threats.  Soon after that, the speedy take-down was on.  What took days, week, and months to plan and produce had to be taken down in an hour.  When we were done, everyone started to gather up their families.  Bridget and Valin were in the hallway and Bridget said something about trying to find Leo.  The next thing I see was Valin, bursting into the gym, yelling, “Leo! Leo!” at the top of his lungs.  And when he spotted him, he ran straight to him and said, while pointing, “I found him!”  It was pretty cute, I have to admit.  

We took the opportunity to snag a family photo since were were all together and well dressed.  These were the best we could get.

Next, we said our good-byes and headed to my grandparent’s to clean up after our quick morning and afternoon.  They didn’t get home from their 14 hour drive from Arizona until 9:30.  But since it was our only night to visit with them, we decided to play pinochle anyway.  I won the first hand, and then, finally, Patxi won by quite a large margin.  We left as soon as we could the next morning and we made it home for bedtimes.  It was a great trip and we were happy to be there and see family.  

These are pictures of Valin playing with Grandma's marti-gra beads. 

The rest of Patxi’s visit was more informal.  We did go up to Pilot Rock to watch Tice’s baseball game and have a family BBQ.  Because of that, Patxi got to see everyone member of his family (since Dmitri and Nicki couldn’t make it to the wedding), which I know made him so happy.  As always, we had so much fun.  We left Sunday morning so that we could still go to our home ward for church.  There are many people there who still thought that I was husband-less, plus I wanted to experience going to church in our ward as a complete family.  I felt so good.  Everyone was so happy to see him, and I’m sure I couldn’t hind my joyful glow either.  

The days following were of us being a family at home. It was greatly needed because the kids and I got nasty colds (so yucky that’s I’m still getting over it).  It was wonderful to have Patxi there to get up with the kids too or watch them while I slept in.  I appreciate his help so much more since I’ve had to live without it. But the dreaded day of daddy’s departure did arrive.  Because he had to be at the airport by five in the morning we decided to get a hotel room for that night.  

Theses were at Olive Garden.

These are of Valin playing with Boston"s pants.  What a funny boy!

        We went out to eat, swam in the pool, and kind of had a “last hurrah.”  I didn’t want Patxi to leave in secret or in the dark of the night because I thought Valin would handle it better if he knew what was happening.  I’m sad to say that it didn’t really work out that way, and for days afterward Valin still asked where his dad was.  Sometimes when the house would creak or when he would heard voices from the outside he would ask if it was Daddy.  It was tough to keep the tears back, but each time I explained that he had gone back to Iraq and that he loved him here, there and everywhere.  I miss him so much too. 

it's been a little under a month since he left and it's gotten easier.  Once I got s handle on things and got motivated, and humbled myself to ask for help from the Lord, everything seemed to get better.  Hey we only have about 4 months left.  I can handle that right? 

Patxi's home for his Mid-term leave!

Daddy's home!  We were all very excited for Patxi's two weeks home.
It started with him flying into Pasco, WA around 6 Tuesday April 5th.  My parents took the kids while I went to go pick him up. We stayed the night in a hotel and got back to La Grande just in time for the start of Valin's nap.  We also hit snow on our way which totally tickled Patxi.  He was so happy to see snow and later play in it; it was kind of funny.

Yup, he tried twice to hit me with a snow ball, and was unsuccessful. He he!

Boston was up and she got some uninterrupted time with her daddy.



It took Valin a little bit to wake up and realized that his daddy was home, but once they started to play like old times, it was as if no time had passed.  It melted my heart and filled me with so much joy, I almost burst. Then we went home where Mom and Valin's "Welcome home!" sign was waiting for Patxi.  The smile on his face was great.  I gave him the tour and I started on our first dinner in 6 months where we've been a complete family.  It was great and I had so much peace.  But really I felt it that night when we all knelt together as a family for family prayer.  It was so wonderful and the spirit came into my heart to testify that this was good and what God's Plan is all about.  I felt so complete and beyond joyful.

Next was Patxi's birthday.  He, of course, didn't care to do anything, but I wanted to something since he was here.  So I baked him a Jello cake and we went out to eat with my parents, who later kicked our behinds at pinochle.  It was a great evening.

Then, we got really to travel to Idaho for Patxi sister, Petra's wedding.  I was looking forward to it for many reasons.  First, Patxi and I would have the drive to talk about things that we really needed to discuss, like re-enlisting, financial plans for the future, and everything we planned on doing when he got back in September.  the first half of the drive, we did get to talk, but Valin needed my attention for the rest.

The other thing I was looking forward to was seeing my family that lives in Rexburg.  I hadn't seen them since Patxi left.  But it turned out that only one of my Uncles and his family was in town, my Uncle Jared, his wife Camille, and their children, Colin, Maddie, Kate, and Gavin.  We did go out to dinner with them, which was great.  They have such a sweet family and I love spending time with them.  Plus Gavin is just 6 months older than Valin so it was cute to watch them take over the restaurant together.

Next, we spent Sunday with Patxi's family, which I was also looking forward to.  They are all just so much fun! Valin was too keyed up to take a nap, which made things a little more difficult and forced us to call it a night earlier.  Monday we also spent with everyone, including Springe and her family who we hadn't seen since Valin was a month old.  We went to see the exhibit of plasticized bodies at the Museum of Idaho, which was really interesting.  Valin's attention only lasted for the first floor so I took Valin up to the kid room and then Patxi relieved me so I could see the rest of the exhibit.  He's so thoughtful, isn't he.        

Valin's turned two!!! Party time!

The kiddos are napping and I've already finished my P90X workout, so it's time to do some blogging!

Over the course of about 6 months, Valin has literally falling in love with to movies, "Cars" and "Toy Story" (1-3) from disney and pixar.  He has Woody, Buzz, and Lighting McQeen pjs, shirts, toys, bedding, and he asks to watch the movies almost everyday.  So for his birthday, I decided that I would attempt to make a Lighting McQeen cake, since it would be the easier than Woody or Buzz.  I had been planning and working it out in my head for about a month before, so it all took mostly and afternoon to do. And I think it turned out pretty good.  I goal was for it to be good enough so that Valin would recognized it and scream "Queen!" like he does every time he sees him.

Since I used oreos for the wheels, I still had an almost full bag left over and there was no way I was going to keep it in my cupboards because I would eat them all.  So I decided to crush them, pour melted butter over them, and surround McQeen so that it would be as if he was driving on asphalt.  I thought it was pretty creative, if I do say so myself.

Here's Valin seeing it for the first time:
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One of the coolest thing was that Patxi got on Skype so he was able to "be with us" when Valin blew out the candles and opened his presents.  Patxi had to get up pretty early to do so. It meant so much to me and I'm sure to Valin as well.  I love my husband so much!

And here is Valin opening he's presents:
(it's pretty long, but the kids were hilarious! )


I think Valin totally enjoyed himself and I love to see him so happy! It was a great success!

P90X

Since my knowledge of fitness is somewhat limited, I decided to buy P90X to get me pass this spot weight that I can't seem to get over.  I am way excited to finally have the ability to get where I want to go! I can do it!

The first day went okay.  I slipped up twice. Yesterday my car decided it needed a new full pump and today, wonderful men from my ward fixed it for me.  To thank them, I got cookies, but some were broken and didn't fit on the plate so...you can guess the rest.  Then I went to pick up my car an missed the window I need to cook a good dinner, so it was a fast one that didn't quite fit within the P90X nutrition plan. But it wasn't that bad.  Anyway, I actually feel like I can follow it pretty well, that and I can do the workouts as well.  Sure there was times when I didn't have great form, but I did better then I thought.  So overall, I think I can do this! I feel as if my fitness dreams are in sight and on the horizon. I can do it! and will do it!

I'll try to give updates, but I'll be busy actually working out, cleaning the house, and taking care of my children, and sleeping which is all I seem to fit with 24 hours.  But I will post my beginning stats for historic purposes.

I think I can, I think I can. I know I can, I know I can.

Patxi's Christmas present

For Patxi this year I decided that since we couldn't physically be with him for Christmas, we could symbolically.  So I got nice framed pictures of us to take with him wherever he may be.

I bought three black frames and sent three different pictures for each so he could rotate them when he got bored.
So here is what I put in Boston's picture frame:

These are what I placed in Valin's frame:

These are the pictures I chose for my frame:

Major thanks to my dad for taking the pictures.  It took us like two minutes to get good ones of Boston, but it took an hour to get Valin's pictures.  That little boy would not sit still.  

Patxi got the package on our wedding anniversary (December 29th) and I talked to him on Skype the next day.  I was happy to see that he had hung the pictures up on the wall over the head of is bed.  He told me that he really liked them, and the smile that came acrosss his face proved that it was the best gift to give him. 

Some cute pictures of my amazing kids

I just uploaded pictures from my camera, so now it's time to put them on the web.  Since my house is getting closer to being in order, I can spend some time with my computer.  Duplex pictures are to come soon.

 My little stud-muffin watching a movie.

Boston loves to play with her feet. This is her at bath time.

Valin playing with the curtains at our new place. 

And he static hair that follows. 

Sometimes he reminds me just how small he is.

He's intensely watching a movie, with his fingers in his mouth.

Here Valin is singing "Popcorn Popping." Well, I'm mostly singing it while he does then hand motions.

Here is the one of the first times Boston actually laughs, which isn't like her normal giggle. 

Snow!!!!

Our weather is making up for the mild winter last year, inch by inch of snow.
   Usually I am all for it.  But now that I have kids who get cold easily, I hate to take them out in it.  So I'm pretty much stuck in the house all day.  If I do take Valin out to play, what do I do with Boston?  It's be better in our new house because we'll have a real backyard.
   But the worst thing is that I'm planning on moving this Saturday and guess what the weather plans on doing then?! Snowing!!! Ugh!

Halloween

We went up to Pilot Rock for Halloween because it was a Saturday and we had made plans before we moved.  Valin was a Knight and I tried to put together a kind of flower costume for Boston.

We went to the primary trunk-or-treat.  Valin had a mixture of confusion and utter joy as we went from trunk to trunk in the rain.  It was as if he would say, "I have no idea why you are placing candy in my pumpkin, but I am loving it!" I had Boston in my front pack, one hand holding the bottle to feed her, and the other one on Valin's keeping him in line.  It was one of the many times I was glad that Boston was bottle feeding because it would have been hard for me to bring Valin around the indoor carnival while nursing her.  So it was fun.

Four generations

Here is Valin with his stickers. He loves to place them all over his face and hands.  It's the cutiest thing!

 My Grandfather (Dad's dad) came up for a visit during the first of November.  We had to get a Four Generation picture.  We didn't get one with Boston because she was sleeping through most of it.

 But at the last minute, she woke up and Dennys got to feed her.

  

A crazy quick trip to visit the love of my life!

To kind of set up the story, about a month ago Patxi called me to ask if I was planning on coming down for a 4 day pass he was granted for the beginning of November.  At the time, we had just moved to La Grande and I was dealing with that stress and the apartment mess.  Plus, I was stick and my kids looked like they were getting it to, so the idea of me traveling alone with my two kids under the age of two made me cringe.   Plus, he said, if I were to go, he wouldn't buy my earlier argument about not wanting to drag my young kids all over Europe. (For Patxi's mid tour leave he wanted to spend those two weeks in Europe) So, needless to say, I said no, we wouldn't go down, even though I wanted to be with Patxi more than anything, I hated to imagine him alone in his barracks while everyone else was with their families.  He reassured me that it was okay because they were planning on taking trips with others whose families wouldn't be coming.  So I didn't feel too bad.

Then, Sunday the 7th- the first day of his pass, during our usual phone conversation, Patxi tells me that his trips had been cancelled because there wasn't enough people.  I could tell he was bummed.  And that picture of him reading a book in an empty barracks entered my mind again.  That picture and the desire to be with Patxi ate at me for the rest of the day until I found myself looking online for plane tickets.  I was still torn between the wanting to go and knowing that it was going to be a huge hassle.  Finally after a phone call from my sister, Jen, I pushed the "book tickets" button, and went crazy with the preparation.  My mom came over and we stay up til 2 getting everything ready.  With the help of my friend, Jamie Law, I felt pretty confident about the plane rides, but not about Patxi's reaction.  If you know Patxi then you know that he shuns hassle like the plague and doesn't appreciate anything spontaneous or expensive.  And as you can imagine, this decision was a huge hassle, rash, and pulling from our savings.  But I was bringing his kids to him, right?  He was sure to forgive me.  Late into the night, after I swear I was getting an ulcer,  I continued to repeat to myself, "The tickets are non-refundable, there's nothing I can do now but choose to make the most of it."  I texted that to Patxi and hope he would do that too.

So soon, I find myself, numb from only 3 hours of sleep, driving to the Pasco, WA airport, not knowing the way because the printed directions fell out of my pocket.  I franticly call my dad and find it.  We race to check in, then back to the car because i forgot Valin's car-seat, and then through security (which was a huge ordeal, even with the help of three different officers). I had just enough time to text my mom that we made it before they started to board the plane.  The ride was nice because Valin was quiet and observant since it was a new experience.

We landed in Salt Lake were Jen was meeting us.  It turned out that we barley had enough time and I would have missed my connection if a pilot hadn't helped me to the gate.  We landed in Menphis and by then Valin was so tired that as we were walking to our next connection, he triped and wouldn't get back up. There I was with a 3 month old in a front pack, with a huge backpack, and holding on to the leash/backpack that was on the back of an almost 2 year old who would only crawl.  Finally a personnel came over with a wheelchair and Valin got to be pushed to out next gate; there was no way that I could have held him.


After a shot of sugar, Valin was his normal self and he would have crashed if his dad wasn't at the other end of the terminal when we landed in Mississippi.  I really can't describe how wonderful it was to see Patxi's brilliant smile, to be hugged and kissed by him, and see the smile he brought to our children.  We were all so happy to be together, that we stay up til 1 that night.  The next day, we mostly stayed in the hotel, napping and trying to get a rental car.  We had dinner at Red Lobbter which was fun.

Then the next day we decided to go the the gulf coast which was about an hour from Hattiesburg (town

we were staying at just outside Camp Shelby). 

 These are pictures of us on while on the road.  Once we got to Gulfport, Valin had fallen asleep, so we decided to drive to Alabama for lunch which was about an hour from there.  Then from there we thought, "well, why not, let's go to Louisiana." On our way back we stopped to wade in the ocean.  The weather was amazing and the beach was great except for the garbage.  On our rode trip, we saw these small restaurants called, Waffle House, about every 8 minutes.  They were more abundant than Mc Donald and Walmart!  The people of the south must love their waffles.

Then we got so hungry that we stopped at the first restaurant we found.  It was the saddest mexican restaurant we've every visited.  But as we changed our direction and got back on the interstate, we saw tons of wonderful places we should have eaten at.  As we drove back to Camp Shelby to drop Patxi off, we heard the song, "I'm Already There" by Lonstar and it touched me so much that I cried on Patxi's arm.  I missed him already.  We sadly said our good-byes and drove back to our hotel.

It was a long trip home.  We got back to Pasco at 10:30 pm and I still had 2 hours to drive.  During that drive I got to thinking.  I felt, deeply, almost to the over-powering of my body, that I loved Patxi.  I realized that I had gone on autopilot with my married, and wasn't striving to deeply love my husband like I should or had in the past.  But after this reflection, I truly felt that I deeply, passionately loved him. Since I went though "emotional" fire so that he could see his children and so I could be with him, I was able to realized how much I really loved him and was willing to sacrifice anything for him.  Was it worth all of the hassle just to say good-bye again...? Heck yes! I would never take back those long, expensive, and wonderful four days.  Thanks to everyone who helped. But I'm most grateful for my Heavenly Father who had blessed me with the ability to make this trip and the reflection I had afterward.

So...here is a short update on this month

 Have you ever heard of the saying, "When it rains, it pours," because the author must of had me in mind when that phrase was created.  First off, my husband's deployed, so that leaves me as a single parent with two children under the age of two.  Then during the first weekend of the October, I decided that the best thing for me was to move from my in-laws, to a place of my own.  So in comes the stress from moving.  After about three days of living in the apartment I found in La Grande, I realize that it's not going to work.  Valin's bedroom is separated from the rest of the apartment and there's something in here that I'm allergic to because I have to use my inhaler more often.  So I stopped unpacking and started looking for another place.  Then this weekend, while my grandparents were up for a visit, my cold turns nasty and travels down to my lungs.  I was having a heck of a time breathing, even while using my inhaler.  After talking to my family physician, he deemed it something like bronchitis. Then, to tip it off, my milk supply, for nursing my two month old, started to dry up.  I'd try to nurse her but she couldn't get enough to satisfy her hunger, and what I do get out, is from an hour of much effort.  So I decide to bottle feed her, after a huge inter struggle with myself.  Of course, she doesn't like the taste of formula (who does? especially if it taste anything like it smells), but I force it down her throat, all the while wondering if I made the right decision.

     So here I sit, wondering when things were going to calm down.

i've never been stessed like this before

So, a lot has happened.  We moved to La Grande.  My in-laws were awesome, but it was time to have my own space with my own things.  We looked in La grande because Patxi wants to live there when we get back.  Anyway, we found a great 2 bedroom apartment. it has a fenced yard with a swing, great and safe neighborhood, all utilites are included in the rent which also includes laundry and internet.  But it's not perfect.  The one thing that's turning out to be a huge thorn in my side is the fact that its not self-contained. Meaning that Valin's room is separated from the rest of our apartment. I'll try to illistrate. The outside door opens out to a large room, i call the "common breeze-way." From there, there are four doors (not including storage closets).  Starting from the right, the first door opens to my apartment: living room, bedroom, dinning room, kitchen, and bathroom.  Next is the laundry room.  Then a  little bit down the hall is a studio apartment currently un-rented. Then, on the left side of the outside door, there is Valin's room. Do you see the problem? The reason why I accepted the problem and took the apartment was because we are hardly ever in Valin's room and the postives of the apartment, in my mind, would out way that negitive.  Now  that we are living here, it's become more of a problem and uncomfortable situation. Luckily, I sign a month-to-month lease, so if I find something better, we can move at the end of the month.  The stressful thing is that I've stopped unpacking so my house is a mess, I'm still trying to find something better, all the while trying to meet the needs of myself an my two children under the age of two. Crazy!!