Summer 2014

It's the end of August 2014, just a few days away from the boys staring school so I figured I should sit down and write a little about our last few months. BEN FINISHED RESIDENCY! Sometimes I can hardly believe we are actually done with the hardest 4 years ever. And we are loving washington. The boys have made a couple friends and spend their days running, biking, swimming, digging, playing and fighting :) We've had two emergency room visits for deep gashes and mulitple scratches, bumps and bruises. Proof they are finally able to play like boys now that we are out of the city.

We are living with Ben's parents, in their guesthouse, until we save some money and decide where we want to buy a house, so we are back in Lake Tapps in the ward and schools I grew up in. I wasn't sure how I felt about that at first but they are such great places to grow up I can't help but be happy for the kids.

Work has been a little hectic. It took awhile for Ben's permits to come through and they are in the middle of merging Carl and Rick's practices and are hitting a lot more bumps then they anticipated...mostly with the staff not wanting to make any changes. There have been a lot of late nights which the kids and I are a little bummed about but just keep reminding ourselves it is short term. Other then that, Ben is loving the work.

I really miss some friends from Chicago and have mixed feelings about our ward here. It is a really strong ward...which I love...but also find a little boring (I guess?/) compared to our past city wards. There is just something neat about the city wards, every struggles so much but you struggle together and create a closeness. People deal with more real problems then just keeping up with appearances and your neighbors. Not that that is how everyone in this ward is, but since everyone seems so strong it just seems harder to really get to know people. Basically it is just a very different dynamic then I am used to and will take some time to adjust. But the kids love it. For the first time in his life Evrett loves going to church, loves primary and his teacher. My calling is in the nursery which is perfect with Cody. Ben is the assistant 11 year old scout leader. Things are good.

Cody, oh Cody bear! What a transition you have been through these last couple months! You have grown so much. For starters, you are sharing a room with all three of your brothers and it is going great. I was so worried but you love having them in the room. YOu have also (finally) started walking! You still love balls and don't really like toys too much. You love unorganizing anything you can find. You love reading books with pictures of animals and you growl at each one. You nod your head yes and shake your head No at all the appropriate times...its pretty cute. And I quit nursing, about a month ago. You were wanting to nurse and nurse and one morning at 4am I'd been nursing for 45 minutes but you weren't even drinking, and you were biting me and slapping me in my face with your top hand over and over so I said I was done. Cold Turkey. You pulled at my (and aunt jessica's)shirt for about 2 days and that was it. Being done has seemed to cut some invisible attachment cord you had to me and you have been a more pleasant kid. You are still stubborn, get really really made when you don't get what you want. I made the mistake of taking you to Evrett's kindergarten open house and you were losing it left and right because I wouldn't let you go unorganized his classroom, or have the scissors, or markers. It was kinda funny. You love nursery. You love pushing the popper toy and the grocery cart (like a walker). You love love love your brothers and want to do everything they do (like at Target when then each run and jump over the big red balls outside the door. You wiggle and squirm and yell until I set you on the ball for a minute...just like them :) You also love all your grandpas and dad. This started when dad was gone for a month finishing residency...you became obsessed with going to men...grandpas or uncles or any random man we passed. You tried to get them to hold you. It has calmed down a bit but you still prefer grandpas over grandmas. We went on a hike by Mt. Rainier last week and you loved it! You still love your naps...going down 2.5 hours after waking up...so still two naps a day. and then 4 hours after your second nap you will go to bed and you are finally consistantly sleeping through the night!!

Evrett: my baby has grown up into a belching class clown. he stated kindergarten next week and is so excited! He goes full day on tuesday, thursday, and every other friday. He rides the bus too! Which we are both excited and nervous about. He is such a great help with Cody but also seems to find himself in the middle child trap. Not as big as the big boys but much bigger then the baby. He loves to read books and do puzzles and play toys. He has gotten really good at his training wheels bike and loves swimming in the lake. He jumps off the diving board and goes down the slide with the big kids.

Brannon: The Branman. Hmmm. I have a feeling you are going to be a tough teenager and I'm not sure what to do about it. You don't like rules, chores, or listening to authority. You want to play and have fun all the time and seem to get mad at me often. But you are also the sweetest boy of all your brothers. You will randomly pick me flowers or take such good care of Cody. You will notice when I'm not feeling great. You have gotten really good at riding the razor scooter and swimming. You are tough. You play with kids well. You like basketball and football but not necessarily on organized teams. You love the Captain Underpants books and aren't looking forward to school but have a teacher that seems like so so so much fun. You love to fish (thanks to uncle braden)

Colin: The eldest, and it shows. You are responsible and caring and a peacemaker. You love swimming and riding your bike. You love being treated like a grownup. You desperately want your own cell phone. Still loves legos and creating. You hacked into your kindle and changed the parental password and got your kindle taken away. You like to build things and carve sticks with your pocketknife. You still love to read and play computer/video games. You are such a huge help with your brothers and have started to babysit a little while I go on jogs.

Other than that we have spent the summer mostly swimming, a little hiking, biking, shopping mixed in. Aunt jessica was our "nanny" for a month which was a blast. The Barnhursts came for a quick couple hour visit and the kids and I got together with Jessica Stoker and Shelbs. We've had so much fun with all the family around! And are grateful to have finally made it to this point.