Our First 2 Weeks

The day we got to town Clint Phillips  (not to be confused with MY brother clint spencer) and his girls came to town.  Its always fun to see how the kids just pick right up where they left off! 

Here we are at LBM the yummy pizza place in town.  They just have a basket of coloring books for kids to use.  Great idea! 

The next day we had Christmas with the Phillips crew.  Here we are Kory's grandparents with their great grand kids.  We took other family pictures but I was in them all so I don't have any of them on my phone.   (Kory was acting like a monkey in the background trying to get everyone to laugh.....so Jaylie was acting like a monkey too.  nice. ) 

That evening it started snowing and the wind was blowing like crazy.  I tried to take a picture of it but it doesn't capture the drama at all.  Luckily it didn't last too long but it did blow in some cold temps.  

Sayler and Hayven fixed Gram's hair with some of the new hair stuff Sayler got! 

We stayed out at the ranch until our stuff got here (which ended up being almost 2 weeks). One night when we went to bed, I checked on the boys and they were in the same bed.  Not sure how that happened, but I sure hate I missed the discussion that went on across the room to get them both in Kanyon's bed.  hahaha.  They did this for several nights then it backfired when Q didn't want to sleep with klp any more. Tears. Lots of tears.  

Snowy cows.  Generally speaking, I'm glad I'm not a cow, but when I see them all huddled up out in the wind covered in snow, I'm REALLY glad I'm not a cow.   (I'm also really glad I wasn't Clint who had the job of getting out of the truck to open gates and cut strings....brrrrr)

klp got an Iron Man mask from his cousins and this just cracked me up when I looked over and say Uncle Tye putting Kan Man....I mean Iron Man's shoes on.  

This was the cold temps all that wind and snow brought.  I think at its worst that day it was -20 with wind chills in the -40 range.  yuck.  gross. brrr. I stayed in the house.  I wanted to go outside because my curiosity led me to think I should feel what that ridiculous temp feels like.  I opened the door and didn't even make it outside before my leg muscles hurt.  I came back in.  They can all just tell me what those temps feel like.  

Tye had Kory signed up for the basketball league in town before we even got there so thats been fun.  They have a stage with an old batting cage up so the kids can play bball up on the stage and be contained in the net.  Perfect.  Miss Jaylie June decided at 17 months, that she'd start walking afterall.  This night at the gym was when she did the most walking we'd seen.  And she also was trying to dribble.  Pretty hilarious and cute.  

The little brothers were PUMPED to go feed cows with the big brothers! And yes, our life is a Carhartt commercial! 

This was the day our stuff arrived and we were getting it all unloaded.  The house has a little sunroom thats perfect for a playroom.  the boys stayed pretty busy with all their toys they hadn't seen since Christmas.  

Cute little Kanyon drawing. He said "we're in a tent".  Pretty much perfection to me.  

While we were staying at the ranch we had nice calm easy mornings where I let the boys watch as many cartoons as they wanted and we took it easy.  jjp fell asleep on me several times and it made me so happy.  Why is holding a sleeping child the sweetest feeling in the world?!

Somewhere between Texas and Montana, she learned to say "CHEESE" when I take her picture.  Oh dear.  

I've decided Juney in this hat may be the cutest thing in the world.  Then she goes and grabs her shopping cart to push and ups the cuteness even more! 

"Cheese" 

We turned her carseat around. She's big stuff now!

We put the boys to work shoveling snow! 

Jaylie found Kanyon's gear.  She's using his crutch and his walker. Silly sister. 

We went to the high school basketball game and enjoyed cheering for the Eagles (the boys are really in to "teams" and who we want to win) and eating popcorn! 

We spent a few days unpacking before we had enough done to spend the night.  Here's chubs "cheesing' while she helps me unpack.  

They're pretend watching TV.  We haven't gotten cable hooked up yet but they're managing to be entertained by the TV anyways. Haha. 

Poor Jaylie was thrown around with no regards for her nap times.  She fell asleep on our bed while we were unpacking.  Sorry.  

Kory's aunt and uncle came to town with their 4 kids.  It was fun to see them.  We met them over at Kory's grandparents house and had a good visit.  

Great Grandma Fae and jaylie.  Jaylie was crawling over and asking to get in her lap then she'd snuggle up with her. It was really sweet but very unlike Jaylie! 

...then she moved on to Grandpa Bob.  

That night was great and all.......till the food poisoning hit.  Me, Kanyon and Quinn got it and it was horrbile. It hit be first and then the boys about an hour later.  Poor Kory was dealing with kids throwing up with very little help from me.  I would get up and help when I could but I was dealing with it myself.  It was crazy crazy crazy and I hope that never happens again.  By 4:30 am. everyone was fine and the boys woke up the next morning like nothing ever happpened. I'm glad I ordered Jaylie a grilled cheese or else she would've been right there with us! Kory wasn't with us for lunch so he didn't eat what we did.  Ughh.  Horrible.  

Quinn took a selfie. 

Quinn got to get up and go feed the cows with Daddy and Tye one morning. He was SO EXCITED when he left with his work gloves on! Pretty cute!

So thats a photo tour of our first 2 weeks. Here are some of my thoughts: 

Moving is STRESSFUL! Trying to unpack and get things set up and done with 3 kids at your feet ALL DAY LONG for DAYS and DAYS about drove me crazy.  After the first week I at least felt like I didn't have to be unpacking something every second of the day so I could feel a little more normal.  There were definitely times when Gram and Cheif bailed us out helping with the kids and I'm pretty sure without that relief I would've exploded.  

The weather has been great (other than that one day that was crazy cold) and I'm very glad.  I know it won't last like this, but I've been very thankful for sunny days.  The thing I can't get used to is how much colder it gets at night.  If its in the 40's in the day and we leave to go somewhere that night, I forget that its gonna be way colder without the sun. Its like the air here is just FREEZING but if the sun is out you're ok. Then as soon as it turns night its very cold. Needless to say, my kids and I have been out at night VERY underdressed for the temps.  

There's snow everywhere.  Sure the warmer temps have melted some of it but in general there's snow on the roads, piles everywhere, and ice. The ice.  Its everywhere. Slippery and tricky.  Like I wanna put spikes on my shoes.  Sheesh.  

Our rent house is great.  It was built in 1908 (I think) and there was period of time starting in the 20s that it was used as a nunnery. There's still some furniture and things that were used by the nuns (prayer table and the drawers where they stored their nun suit.....I'm sure there's a more formal word than "nun suit" but I don't know what it is.) We live for the most part on the ground level but there is a basement with a big game room and bedroom/bathroom down there. Perfect for guests!!!!!!!! SO COME VISIT!!!  

Our skin is cracked and drying and Jaylie June has red cheeks. She looks like she's ready for a Sing Song performance (ACU shout out). 

This was a good time of the year for us to get here because its not the most demanding time on the ranch.  Kory has been able to be around to help get everything settled which has been great.  And its a good time to be able to take the kids with him to work.  

Quinn says that can't be Dad's work because you have to work inside.  haha.  

There's way too much Pepsi up here. I mean I like Pepsi ok.  Cherry Pepsi is delish, but most restaurants serve Pepsi instead of Coca Cola.  Not cool.  

The closest Wal Mart is 2 hours away.  Kory and I went to Billings yesterday to get stuff for the house and stuff and spent 2 hours in Wal Mart.  Sheesh.  The grocery store in town is nice, but its pricey so we will hopefully be able to plan ahead and get stuff at Wal Mart/Cosco/Sams.  

Since there's no Wal Mart, you have to get things here and there. I've always gotten enjoyment from Ranch supply stores even in Texas when I had a Wal Mart. I'm not sure why, but I like looking at all the equipment and thinking its cool that someone needs all this stuff.  Around here A)We really do need lots of that stuff now B)those stores carry everything!  The Ranch Supply stores and Hardware stores have it all and I just really love it. I went in to the True Value store to get keys made and was impressed with their giant Melissa and Doug toy selection right next to the light switches.  haha.  Now, don't get me wrong,they aren't as cheap as wal mart, but there's something kind of charming about  stores like that. I'm sure I'll get over the nostalgia of it and wish I could just go in and get it dirt cheap at walmart along with diapers, grapes, and shampoo, but oh well. I like it.  

We are enjoying the benefits of small town business and how everyone knows everyone and that sure makes it easier when you're opening a bank account and need to write a check the next day.  

We are on the corner on a pretty busy part of town. I like it cuz I can look out and see whats going on. Our house has TONS of windows. Which I have to remember to let the blinds down on at night or else the whole town can see straight through our house.  

My cousin Julie got me an awesome Texas necklace and I wear it all the time. I love it. 

Initially we were hoping we could live out of town cuz we aren't town people but its kinda nice for now to be 30 seconds from the grocery store and a block away from Main Street.  

Kids have to take snow clothes to school every day.  Annoying.  

Kanyon starts school Tuesday.  Thats a whole post in itself, but I'm feeling very positive about it.  

The kids are adjusting nicely.  Quinn is our kid that is the most sensitive to transitions. By sensitive I mean reacts like a while child and acts HORRIBLE for at least 2 weeks.  He did it when Jaylie was born and this was very similar if not worse.  I think the last few days we're starting to settle in with him. I'm sure it helps that I'm not constantly putting him off because I'm busy unpacking.  

Speaking of unpacking, I thought coming in to this that I'd be settled in 2 weeks.  I'm laughing at myself now.  Yeah right.  We are a little better every day but still have piles of things that need to find their place.  I'm getting impatient.  

BUT we've been in the house long enough now that I probably should start cleaning.  Yuck.  But I'm still unpacking??!! UGHH!!  

So many people have texted, emailed, called, etc. to check in on us or tell us hi or whatever. That means the world.  We miss our Texas people so bad.  

This old house creaks.  I like it.   

I still can't believe I live here.  Not like a denial/unhealthy sort of thing. I think its just hard to wrap my mind around it.  It all makes sense when I'm inside my house with my 5, but then when I think about the world outside our house its just hard for me to grasp that we LIVE here.  Weird.  

Putting coats on kids is annoying and you have to do it all the time.  

Kory is loving work and while the process of getting it all worked out and figured out business wise is still a  work in progress, he's enjoying his daily work life and I'm happy he's here. There are lots of wonderful things about this life and I'm glad we are getting to enjoy them.  

I'm thankful for technology.  It makes me feel not so far away from so many people I love.  

All in all its been a good first few weeks.  We are adjusting and settling in (whatever that means) and we are thankful for the prayers we know so many people have prayed for us.  We feel them and know that so much of our peace is an answer to so many of your prayers.  

Hopefully I can keep the blog in full swing and catch up with on our last couple of months! 

The trip to Montana

I've written several blogs in my head, its just taken me this long to actually get the computer unpacked, hooked up, internet services, and time to sit and blog.  Sheesh.  Moving is NUTS.  I have lots to catch up on with things that happened before the move, but I feel the need to do this first.  

We left Longview on the December 30th around lunch time.  I'll write more about our departure and all the goodbye later, but I can sum it up by saying horrible, heart wrenching, and emotional.  But, more on that later.  

The trip from Longview to Lewistown is about 26 hours, so we planned on doing 3 days.  We weren't in any hurry and didn't want to add to the already crazy chaos of moving.  Our truck with our stuff would take over a week to get there so it was just us 5 in our car headed north.  We had a tentative plan on where we would stop each day, but we also knew lots could happen to change that plan. The first day we ate lunch in the car to make good time.  We were planning on stopping in Childress to eat dinner with our friends The Greens.  

It was a pretty long trek to get there and this guy was really the only one who put up much of a fuss.  

(I would turn around and point my camera at him to take a video...to send to friends as a joke to let them know what we were having to listen to in the car....turns out he hated it and would sometimes stop when I did that.  Score. )

This little Miss Thang did better than we expected.  We didn't know how she would do when she wasn't asleep since she's still rear facing and she's at a tough age to entertain (at least when I had to be in the front seat.  The back seat was full of kids, so there was no room for me to sit back there and entertain her at all).  She did great though. She had her moments, but overall she exceeded my expectations. 

She had major static hair! 

The stop in Childress at the Greens was perfect! We got to see friends we love and the kids got to get out and play.  Eric and Amber had dinner there for us and Dee and Susan came over to visit while we were there.  So fun to see them!  They kids played til about 8:30, we put them in PJ's and ready for bed.  We still had 3+ more hours to go to make it to Kory's cousin's house in Dalhart where we planned to spend the night.  

Easton and the boys playing on his bed

Aelyn and Auburn playing Mommy to Jaylie! 

Easton and Q giving each other a big hug before we left.

It was dark by the time we left to the boys were excited to get out their new stuffed animals my parents gave them.  They have little lights on the end of their paws! The boys loved them and had so much fun with them in the dark.  Anything that passes the time is OK by me! 

We made it to Dalhart about 1 am. and other than ALMOST knocking on the wrong house we got in fine, kids went right back to sleep and we woke up to fun cousins!!  We ate breakfast and took our time visiting and enjoying the Floyd's.  This was another perk to not having a deadline. We could stay and enjoy everyone and not have to hurry too much.  

This is their oldest daughter Jaylee holding our Jaylie! :) 

Back in the car happy and snacking! 

We brought this DVD player hoping it would provide great relief as our last resort.  Initially it was a disaster.  It skipped, Kanyon couldn't keep his ear phones on and it frustrated EVERYONE. But we figured out a better system and when all the toys lost their fun and mom and dad were done playing games, singing songs, and answering a thousand questions, the DVD player did its job very well!

Our second day we drove about 7 hours to Cheyenne Wymoning and found a hotel with a pool.  We partied hard for New Years...ordered pizza in the hotel and went for a swim! The kids had a blast!

We woke up the next morning (Jan. 1) with plans to make it the last 8ish hours all the way to Lewistown.  BUT the weather got in the way a little the roads were pretty sketchy so it took us forever to make it to Casper Wymoning.  But we stopped there and ate a nice relaxed lunch, did our best research to figure out the road situation ahead of us.  By now, the sun was out and it was clear. People we talked to at gas stations had come from the direction we were headed and said the roads were ok, so we moved on.  We drove til it was getting dark and we made it to Sheradin Wyoming.  The roads were refreezing and the roads ahead were supposed to be worse.  The luxuries of not being in a hurry were nice again because we just decided not to risk it.  We still had 4 1/2 more hours to go and knew the roads wouldn't let us make it all the way to Lewistown so we decided to stop for the night and enjoy another hotel swim. 

This was some of our first glimpses of  mountains.....somewhere in Wyoming.  

This was when we stopped in Casper. Lots of good, bug fluffy snow.  

2 asleep, one watching DVD was a recipe for a little peace for mom and Dad. Kory had an intense day of driving that day. 

Headed in to the hotel in Sheradin.  There were 2 boys who were MORE THAN happy to stop and stay in another hotel!!!  

Juney girl at breakfast the next morning.  I was trying to take her picture but she spotted a bird on the TV and started signing "bird".  

The last leg of the trip was only about 4 hours.  Nothing compared to the 2 days we'd already done but I"ll say that I didn't get anxious, stressed, antsy, etc. until the end of that day.  Its like you know you're close so all of a sudden the noise and the crazy-ness of driving was getting to me.  

We made it to town in time for lunch with the family.  All in all the trip was pretty uneventful and we are very thankful for that.  We had no car trouble  and no major kid trouble either so it was a success.  We were thankful to not get in a car for a while too! :)