Easter 2009

We used the Resurrection Eggs again this year. We talked about Jesus and colored eggs and anticipated the Easter Bunny, then when he came on Saturday morning (Ryan worked in the morning on Sunday) Emma found the first basket and asked, "What's that for?" We rushed too find them all, to then rush out the door, for a 9am Saturday house showing (vacuum as you go out you know?) But, it was a nice weather weekend and we finished off Easter Sunday at dessert with some favorite neighbors.

House here and there

Our house here.

Still on the market. Just shy of 2 months. The price is right. I just wish I could pick my house up and move it 2/3 houses over. Can't help that. But, I have a "scenic view" says my yard sign. (I'm laughing, because it is a wooded lot, no mountain scape here!) Anxiety is kicking in a bit. They say it will sell. Oh, please sell!

Our house there.

So, this Air Force life is a new thing for us. We weren't sure if we were going to even keep our spot. There is only 1 internal medicine doctor on base, which will be my husband, he will also run the coumidin clinic and sit on some cardiology board or something. Things have been a bit complicated for us. Finally we heard from the doctor Ryan is replacing. He is LDS. Has 4 kids. They were heavy to leave, but had always said if the AF offered them an international spot in England as a family (that is key, those type of orders aren't all too common) they would go. Upon talking to them we realized how rare this opportunity was for them and since Mtn. Home is not the most desirable spot, the fact that we wanted it and they could go to England was really pretty military miraculous. I can say that my family, and probably them too, has really felt the Lord's care over us and knew the desires of both our hearts. We have felt really grateful. And been reminded that he does watch over us!

I had some homes for my mom to go down and look at. I gave her a rough itinerary and networked enough to know where we wanted to live. We knew we were just going to rent- the market is slow there and with just over a 3 year commitment, and truthfully, I think home ownership is seriously over-rated, renting was the perfect option. There were great opportunities because the city is practically all military and with orders and changes going out all the time, families were stuck in homes trying to sell them fast or get them rented.

My mom spent the day with my grandma, and they checked off my house list, took pictures, drove the neighborhoods and took so much weight off our shoulders! How much Ryan and I appreciated this! We decided on a 2 year old custom home from an F14 fighter pilot that got pulled to move to Italy. They will be gone for 3 years. They are leaving there front loaders, ride on lawn mower, piano, surround sound system, tools, and deep freeze. They said, "Welcome to the Air Force family!" We promise to take good care of it.

I should be cleaning.

I have 2 showings between tomorrow and the next. I'm trying to tell myself "it will sell, it will sell..."
And my house is really bad... I've been under the weather (i.e. stuck on the couch sick) but am on the mend and am going to try to salvage the rest of spring break for Tanner.
I had great plans. With an itinerary and everything. Maybe before we move....

I did accomplish this:

I added a Favicon to the top of my address bar. See the little heart up top on my address bar?

It was easy. And I know, really, really important stuff. :)
You can add one too.
go here.

Orders

We got them.

Not in hand, but by phone this morning.

But, they are still issuing them to us. It ended up being our first choice. (Yes, we changed our wish list at the last minute. We were concerned about the cost of living in California.) The Air Force enticed the doctor at the base we wanted to leave by offering him London, England- just what his family wanted the opportunity for. Ryan and I have both felt through all the prayers (please put us near family, or at least west!) and bureaucracy of the military that we would go where are Heavenly Father would have us. It is also nice to see the Air Force really did go to bat for us- wanting us to be happy while Ryan serves. Maybe the Air Force could ship our friends from here there too?

So, here we come Mountain Home, Idaho. Please be a good home for us and since my husband is possibly the only internist there, don't deploy him- Ryan says we'll worry about that later. Today is a happy day. We're moving next to Grandma.

(ps- Mountain Home Air Force base is just outside Boise by about 40 miles).

(pps- Our orders can still be changed up until the first work day. This happens if someone has a family emergency. Meaning, if someone has a traumatic event happen and they need our base for family support in the area, we will be reassigned. We hope this doesn't happen. Truth be told, we were the only ones in Ryan's group getting assignments that even wanted this place. )

St. Patty's

The trap is set. Ropes to climb with to reach the top of the box

where a pile of gold chocolate was set.

All disguised by foilage and a trap door to drop the leprechaun into the box.

They came at night and left 4-leaf clover trails all over our first floor.
4 trails lead to small bucket of treasures- just for the kids.


The leprechaun left a note in a pot of "gold" in the trap box.
"I want the real gold.
You can't fool me.
You can't catch me."

He packed a green lunch for Tanner.
Caused some mischief and messes.
All day long we were on the hunt for things left by the "fairy" as Emma called him.

My little green eating machine
Dinner was pot roast, and green mashed potatoes, brocoli and green sprinkled sugar cookies.

No pictures of the meal- just the treasures.

Western Playgroup

Too Much

Wall-E. Landon's movie of choice. He calls Emma's friend Eva (pronouced Ava) EEEVA. Just like Wall-E does. I think sometimes when I look at Jacks, I see the Captain. The resemblance is strong to me around the neck and cheeks.

Jackson is earning the name of "Little Wall-E" around here.

Heather Bailey

made this:

for my nieces.

who belong to my sister-in-law Jill. Some girls just have the luck. Aren't my nieces even cuter?


ps- then I read off my ever-so-crafty friend Melissa's blog how to make them. (She could give Heather Bailey a serious run for her money. )I won't even attempt to make one. I'd be too embarressed for Emma compared to her cousins.

say it in #numbers#

2 showings so far, 1 open house this weekend, 1 cowboy themed playgroup done, 12 extra shifts for Ryan and 2 more in cincinatti, 1 tax accountant saved us, 1 kid with a stomach bug and fever, 1 baby with double ear infections and a cold, 1 other kid got it from the baby, 3 trips to the pediatrician, 1 trip to the park, 1 set of lost keys with my favorite keychain gone, gone, gone for good I think, 3 kids all got haircuts and new shoes, 1 baby really crawling everywhere & trying to climb the stairs, 1 husband said on Saturday (no-work day) that it feels like he hasn't been home in a week, and 1 and a half weeks until we get our orders- telling us where we are moving to. (the anticipation is just about killing me and the orders come in the mail. I hope they don't get lost.)

It's official

I can't believe it's finally here. It really does feel like we were just in Bakersfield, house hunting by Internet, sending earnest money to a home in our price range just where we wanted it without actually seeing it in person. Emma was a baby in diapers, I was pregnant with Landon and Ryan had just about earned the title of Doctor.

My house. It's not a floor plan I love. It needs an extra bathroom, a finishing in the basement, it needs more living space. But, part of my heart loves this house- our first home. We brought Landon home here. And then Jackson. Tanner started school here. We've had old visitors come to stay and made new friends here.

I don't want to go through residency ever again. I won't ever have 3 babies so close together either- these years in Kentucky I will refer to as my "Babyhood" years. But, in this house life really happened. There were some happy times. My heart will miss her.

I hope she finds a good new owner.


ps- we find out the end of March our orders from the Air Force. We know they will place us stateside. We know we have 20 possible options. The first of our requests being Davis, California, and the last being Anchorage, Alaska. I won't pretend. We've had some major praying going on here to put us in the "right place". Ryan will most likely be deployed for 6 months. Being near family would be a lifeline for me. It would help me just cope. Feel free to offer up prayers for "one of the Williams top 5". :)

Timeout

by Landon.

At Walmart.

Good thing I went to the Walmart that was further away so just in case someone I know didn't see me sit my kid down on the floor in the babyfood section with directions not to move until he could quit screaming.

(ps- if you were there and heard my screamer I *think* this technique might not work. Yes, he still screamed through the produce section. I realized he wanted a donut in the bakery and that fixed all the problems. I'm not a fan of walmart or screamers so today was a perfect day.)

Valentine Week

Just the logistics.

- Went to the zoo Monday... it was too nice to pass up. Then to my doctor then to the craft store again and then I thought, way too many outings in one day.
- Had playgroup at my house Wednesday. We made candy necklaces (okay, Amy S. made almost all the necklaces. Thank you for helping Amy!)
- Had my family Valentine dinner on Wednesday night.
- Thursday, lunch with all my LDS neighbors.
- Friday the kids got there mailboxes. Books and sweets, little toys and Jackson got a stuffed squealing pig. Ryan gave me some cute Brighton jewelry. I got him a chocolate fondue pot for 2. We went out to a white linen Italian spot for dinner. Vincenzo's. (One of the doctors Ryan worked for gave him a gift card 2 years ago. I did not like my meal. Way too fancy for me. But just me and Ryan was nice. Jackson cried almost the entire time we were gone.)
-Saturday we went to the Primay Activity. They had breakfast and some fun games. We brought Ryan dinner at the hospital at night.

Throughout the week we painted and prepped for our house listing this month, paid an exhorbant amount of money for Ryan's board fees, I went back to my opthomologist for the eye I damaged almost 3 years ago by running into a basket (I'm a dork). It's still bothers me and they need to puncture the surface of my eye they think. Ryan had a phone interview with a program in Mississippi. He liked the program and the hours the best so far, not even on my list of places of where I would like to live though. Jackson was up sick one night. Tanner said he couldn't give his flower sucker valentine's out at class because they had candy. Oh, and lastly. Ryan told me a 24 year old woman came in who just delivered her first baby. She had a fever and uterine infection. Her husband (25) had died 2 weeks before in a car accident. She was so sick, she coded and died in the ER. His attending told him. So sad. Puts life in perspective. How much I have enjoyed this week, thinking of ways to show my family how I love them. I think Valentine's Day is one of my new favorites.

( just to show that Landon's been de-clothing lately. He ate dinner with us like this.)

It's a good give-away-er

Ryan grew up knowing a Packard family. I grew up knowing a different Packard family. Ryan served a mission in Mexico and shared a house for a year with the kid from the Packard family I knew (David). Ryan and I met, got married, and then got this awesome cookbook and picnic blanket from the Ann Packard Ryan knew. I met her, loved her, and then found out, yes, she was related to the Packard family I knew. Small world. Seriously awesome Packard's all around. Her cookbook is still one of my favorites, the denim blanket still gets compliments, and now Ann Packard has a give-away. Sign up for a great surprise gift.

Valentine's Dinner for 6

We had our family Valentine Dinner last night.

(after the Valentine themed Playgroup at my house.)

Ryan has to work through this weekend.

Crusted Pink Salmon. Strawberries. Warmed rolls. Rice and corn. Pink sparkling punch. Hanging overhead was my homemade "hearts on fire" chandelier.

(see? really homemade. It was these dang hearts I bought at Hobby Lobby last week that caused Jacks to tumble head first out of the shopping cart onto the top of his head.)

Chocolate mousse filled cream puffs for dessert.

We took turns telling things we loved about one another. Landon insisted on loving Wii and Gameboy. As we tried to better explain the "game" we asked him again what he loved, "You Rock!" was yelled with his hands in the air. Tanner laughed and laughed.

That made me love last night the most.

Well. And him too. His first Valentine's. Another piece of my heart gone for good.

ps- I have a true kidless Valentine Dinner of my own tomorrow night with just Ryan. And my Valentine mailboxes to give out.

It's never too late,

to hit the books.

My mom started nursing school this past week.

It's finally the "right" time and she's shown courage to just go for it. She's going to have to study. She's going to have bring a sack lunch everyday. She's going to have to wear scrubs and keep her hair up and check her cell phone in at the start of class. She's going to have to memorize charts and anatomy and apply math. But, she'll do great. She's always does.

Dear Simon

I'm having some problems with American Idol. It's just too hard to watch now. The LA Times agrees with me "Tatiana just comes off as a hard-to-watch, completely-over-the-top mess... To see her on TV is to battle a strong urge to shut off the set." Or at least change the channel. Or not even watch the TiVo's I have. I just can't watch, and this is the first time I have ever felt this way about your show. I think your selection pick is a sham.

Perfect timing

In the midst of unloading the generator and trying to get it set up while I was in the Suburban with the kids, Ryan got his crucial interview phone call. This is the call for the hospital that is our first choice. This call was to see if he is a good fit as an academic doctor (a teaching doctor with clinic on the side). The call lasted over 30 minutes. Now we have to wait til the last week in March. That's when we hear our orders and the AF tells us where to go. Maybe to this place?

Okay, Okay, We get it.

(this is boring. Just making sure I get the logistics down for the record.)

We have had a severe snow storm turned ice storm. It caused a state-wide power outage that was anticipated to last 7-10 days long. With no electricity and freezing temperatures and a house without a fireplace for warmth, we were reminded of a few things.

First: We need to prepare better.

Recently, Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
"Acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life. . . . As long as I can remember, we have been taught to prepare for the future and to obtain a year's supply of necessities. I would guess that the years of plenty have almost universally caused us to set aside this counsel. I believe the time to disregard this counsel is over. With events in the world today, it must be considered with all seriousness."

I am ashamed to admit, we don't have enough of food or water. Heat was most critical though, and we did get a generator. I'll share more later on that.

Second: We love our friends.

Ryan had to work and then was put on pager contact for emergencies the hospital was expecting. By the time I realized our house might be too cold to last the night through (and Grandma Stephens helped me think clearly. Like "camping" indoors in a tent without any heat source with little babies in freezing weather, is well, stupid.) I could not find a hotel room at a decent price. Most all were sold out. (The city buys them for emergency crews coming in.) But, the Gold family said, "There is room!" for you and another family. Just stay. And we felt so grateful. We took there heat. We ate there food. And they were so generous without any preparation or hesitation. They were Christlike. And we will always love them.

And then we have other friends that held a baby or watched my kids and called to check on us.

Third: We love our neighbors.

Some are LDS. Some aren't. My LDS neighbors called frequently to see what we needed. To tell us where the generators were arriving at. To offer to come help. To stand in line at stores for me. To pick up groceries for me. They helped set up our generator to power our central heat which was priceless. I love them too.

Fourth:We love the church.

It works. It gathers. It gives. As I was standing in raffle ticket line at Home Depot for 3 plus hours for the generators that were supposed to come in, I got calls on my cell phone. A brother in the ward wanted to see if I could use his two heaters. His family was secure, and he wanted to secure mine. And, "how can I help you Lacey?" was said more than once. So, there I stood. In Home Depot with my two baby boys, a crowd of 150 plus people waiting tensely for most likely not enough generators and my heart was full. I cried and thanked him.

The home teaching phone tree was under way. I know assessments were made for the widow and elderly members. I know service was given. All through the organization of the church.

I came back to my house to find these guys clearing my driveway from my ward. I know they make their mama's proud.

Ryan drove up into Indiana to buy a generator he found, but I can easily see how people in stress for survival necessities can turn angry. And pushy. And maybe cause a riot. I never want to be stuck in this situation again. Not for batteries. Or a power cord. Or gas. Not for water, or milk or food. We will be better prepared from now on.

Things to remember:

• Without power, and in stress, comfort foods sound the best. Like hot chocolate and Mac N Cheese. (And McDonald's Hot Chocolate is good)
• 4 wheel drive was more than useful.
• That we paid for a generator over a flat screen TV. (Even though the furniture for the TV just arrived- bummer.)
• We must have a house with a fireplace next.
• That we were blessed. We only were without true electricity for less than 3 days. Tanner missed a full week of school in the name of the storm. There are still outages and school closings.