August 2022

We've had fun exploring the Kansas City area. We have found the Costco and Target and Walmart to fill our house with food and organization. On our first weekend that didn't involve unpacking, we went hiking through Weston Bend State Park. We quickly figured out we need to closely watch Howie for ticks and burrs after hiking. We might even need to keep his hair shorter to be really careful. There were some good views of the Missouri River, but in the fall would probably be so beautiful. Afterwards, we headed to the town of Weston to get some ice cream, soda, and candy. I found a Polish Pottery shop and had to get something there too! It's a lot more expensive in America! 

We've stopped at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant. You order your food through a telephone at the table and a train will drop off the food to your table. It was really fun and the food wasn't so bad.

Our neighborhood pool quickly became the place to be every afternoon. The girls LOVED jumping off the high dive. Kate even got the courage to do a dive off the high dive!

We made it to the Peach Festival in Weston. It was really hot and miserable. I am not quite sure why I thought going at 1pm was a good idea. The girls played on the playground, zip lined, and picked some peaches. I made a wonderful peach cobbler with those peaches the next week.

The day before school, Kate and Jane met their teachers and dropped off all their school supplies. The elementary school is super nice and big. We were all in awe of the koi fish pond, library, cafeteria, TEAMS room, and hearing each child receives their very own computer. So much more technology and money than they are used to coming from a private school. Seeing the joy in my girls faces while exploring the school grounds made my momma heart so happy.

Jane's first day of second grade. She wants to be a dog groomer when she grows up.

Kate's first day of fourth grade. She wants to be a pet sitter when she grows up.

PAIR DAY: One stop shop for everything social, recreational, spiritual, and educational in the Kansas City area. There is a lot to do here. I think we will be pretty happy. And of course, we had to get pictures with the Wizard of the OZ.

Chicken N Pickle: Found a cute little outdoor/indoor restaurant with pickle ball quarts, ping pong, jump ropes, hula hoops, corn hole, and battleship. Unfortunately, it was pretty hot and humid. Bryan cannot stand the humidity. This will be a nice place to go on the weekends in the fall? or winter? 

 

Jane turns 7!

Jane has been counting down the days until her actual birthday. She decided to have a roller skating party with her extended family this year. I think she remembered the swimming pool disaster from last year when I mentioned renting out a space at grandma and grandpa's neighborhood pool. A roller skating party seemed like the perfect party for the new 7 year old.

Jane also decided she wanted to open presents at grandma and grandpa's house before the party. This also is a great idea. She got swimming fins, a mermaid tail, another American Girl doll with accessories, and Barbie's. Our sweet Kate purchased her a Crumbl Cookie gift card, a squishmallow, and spent about 5 days making her a birthday card in grandma's bedroom. She was so very thoughtful. 

Her cute cupcake cake- a mermaid tale!

Look at her face! I just love that she feels so LOVED!

Grandma couldn't resist the icing.

She got money from her Aunt Renae, candy/goldfish/stuffies from her cousin Emily, an art kit from Becky, a National Parks book from Rachel, and a Belle outfit from Linsey. This actually reminds me that we have not sent out "thank you" cards to these family members yet! I'll have to add that to my list of things to do today.

Everyone enjoyed roller skating, people watching, jumping in the bouncy houses, playing in the arcade, and eating all the yummy snacks/cupcakes. Jane's birthday party ended up being a success. Birthday parties always cause me some anxiety every time. 

After the party, we drove to Build-A-Bear in the Orem mall to build her octopus stuffie. She got wedding clothes to it up too! 

Jane is such a joy to watch grow up. She loves her role as the baby of the family. She is really good at getting what she wants too ;) Jane can be found playing quietly in her room with her American girl dolls or imagining with her dress up. She finally got the courage to make it to the top of the rock climbing wall this year. She loves being the leader of her group of friends and was really bummed when she had to leave her friends for the last time at Northside Baptist Academy. Her friends mean a lot to her. She would come home with all sorts of trinkets/artwork/jewelry from them and hide them so I wouldn't throw them away or ask where she got them. If I did find her "special things", she knew everything that was missing. I have learned very quickly, to ask first because she has gotten very emotional and attached to these things from her friends. Jane is really good about making us have family dinner prayer and often talks about being a missionary or a follower of Christ when she grows up. She still looks up to and copies her older sister. I haven't yet figured out how to steer her towards being her own person. But heck, they might just really like the same things! She loves to draw pictures of our family holding hands with a house or rainbow in the background. Happy birthday my beautiful daughter!

July 2022

We spent 4th of July weekend at my parent's lake house in Bear Lake. My dad hasn't had the opportunity to take his boat out since he bought. It was a good learning experience for myself, Kim, and Dad figuring out how to get the boat in and out of the water. 

When we finally did get the boat in the lake, we had a great time. During out time on the water, Dad worked on his driving of the boat and using the throttle. Kim and I figured out how to use the tow and inflatables. The water was really, really cold! I purchased some wet suits for Kate and Jane, which worked pretty well. We had a great time and the kids all wanted to do it again!

We had an adventure driving up to Bloomington Lake. I guess I didn't research well enough to take a 4WD vehicle up to the lake and my mom was driving her Toyota Prius. Yikes! She and my dad ended up turning around 2 miles from the top, but the roads starting getting really, really rough. Hopefully they make a trip up the lake because it was absolutely beautiful! The views and the cliffs and the wildlife.

If you look closely, there are 4 children and a rope swing.

Kate, Norah, and I all took a jab at the rope swing. Although, Norah took about 10 minutes to convince she would be able to do it!

On the 4th of July, we went to the Chuck Wagon breakfast in Paris. The line was pretty long and the kids were getting pretty honorary. We might have all been a little hungry!   

We walked over to the tabernacle and enjoyed listening to the Patriotic Ceremony. Oh, and people just LOVED our Buccee's shirts!

My kids absolute fell in love with the old school merry-go-round. I haven't seen one these things in a very long time. In fact, I thought they were band from playgrounds because children were getting hurt. I guess Paris, Idaho didn't get the memo. Ha! 

After the Patriotic Ceremony, we lined up on the streets for the parade. The kids got so much candy! Salt water taffy, tootsie rolls, caramel popcorn, Mardi Gras beads, gum, and smarties. My dad and I got hit with a water balloon.

Back in Texas, Bryan dressed up Howie in red, white, and blue.

When we got back to Utah, we watched the Sponge Bob Musical at the outdoor theater in Orem with Kim, Norah, and Zander. 

Early one morning, I went on a hike with Rachel around the Traverse Mountain area.

Kate and Jane ate ribs for the first time and LOVED them!

We took grandpa on a hike up Battle Creek Falls trail.

Then we drove over to see the largest flag flying in Grove Creek.

We finally went to the dinosaur museum with Linsey and her family. We were looking for gnomes hidden throughout the museum, but only found like 5, maybe? It was pretty tricky!

Mom and dad wanted to take the kids to the Air Force Museum up in Ogden. Linsey and Ezra came as well. The kids quickly lost interest when we were inside the museum. It was also pretty hot inside and outside. 

I signed Kate and Jane up for a theater camp called Sing! Utah. They had a great time learning different concepts of theater and music and dancing. At the very end of the camp, they were able to put on a show for family. It was so nice to have Rachel and her family, Linsey and her family, and grandma and grandpa Koplin watch their singing and dancing routines. Kate and Jane don't get a lot of family coming to their special events, so this was extra special for them. 

While we played in Utah, poor Bryan had been packing up our home in Texas, driving our households up to Kansas, finishing last minute house projects, working his side job, and finishing his skydiving license. He successfully completed his last jump about 3 days before he moving permanently to Kansas! They stamped his forehead with completion. 

Hiking with cousins in Salt Lake City.

We celebrated Jane turning 7 years old. She had a birthday party at the roller skating rink with all her extended family living in the area. She had a blast! 

After the birthday party, we went to Build-A-Bear so she could have a stuffed animal just like her Aunt Koko. She got the exact same one as Kristi's, but dressed it up a little differently. Kate got one as well, just to make things fair. 

A last picture with grandma and grandpa before heading to Kansas. They were so good to us- letting us stay at their house while in our transitional phase. Kate and Jane got so much one on one time with them and I am so grateful for the relationships they have built because of our extended stays every time we have a big transition with the military moves. 

We also got to spend time with grandpa Ahlborn. It has been difficult for him with the death of Debbie two months previous. He, nor anyone, believed that the oh so active Debbie would be the first one to die. She was really good about making sure Robert was active and eating well and doing therapy that was helpful for his Parkinson's Disease. It must be hard living alone. Becky and Rachel are really good about checking up on him; although his stubbornness and difficulty sharing emotions and feelings sometimes gets in the way of making life easy on both ends. The girls always saw him cheerful. He had a movie night date with us and we ate dinner a couple times with him. I just never wanted to overwhelm him with too much.

We also got to visit with Amy and her family. They arrived from Virginia the night before, well more like, they have been traveling across the country over the last 6-7 days. Amy and Dallas bought a house in Utah, maybe to be close to grandpa or maybe for a job change? The girls got to hold their newest baby, Peter. 

Jane was a little hesitant at first, but felt more comfortable after sitting next to me with the baby. It was fun to see Victoria wanting the baby so much. Kate and Jane don't really know Amy's kids very well (she does have like 6). In the picture below: Kate, Victoria, Jane, Peter, Alice, Emma, Lucy.

After our 8 hour drive to Denver, we spent the night at a kind of sketchy hotel. The hotel itself wasn't sketchy, it was all the homeless I saw around the hotel that made me nervous (especially with all our stuff/life packed in my car). I was near the Red Rock Amphitheatre too! The next morning, nothing was stolen THANK GOODNESS. We headed out to MEOW WOLFF. The girls really enjoyed the one we went to in Santa Fe, but they did not like this museum as much. It was a little more gory? less interactive? The girls wanted more of the fun stuff- like sliding down the washing machine or opening up the refrigerator into another room. I thought we would be there for about 4 hours. We were there for maybe 2? I wouldn't go back to that one. 

After the museum visit, I drove about 4 hours away and we spent the night in Oakley, Kansas. Fantastic hotel. I would totally go there again. Great indoor pool and breakfast. Then we drove to our new home in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Here it is! 

Bryan, Michael, and myself unpacked all our belongings in 2 days. We booked 3 nights at Basswood Resort to get away from the chaos of moving and figuring out where we put sheets or towels or toilet paper or other silly but essential items during the process of moving in. Plus, the girls could have some fun at the playgrounds and swimming pool and outdoor games. 

My cute mom got both Kate and Jane these fun "Dorothy" boots and Wizard of Oz book to lighten up the mood of moving. She is so creative and thoughtful. I hope we can visit the Oz museum while we are here and maybe we will dress up as the Wizard of Oz for Halloween?