August

August started  off with a bang.  Tate's first day of Kindergarten was August 1st.  He was excited.  A little nervous, but mostly excited.  Which made it much easier for me to watch him walk into that big school for the whole day.  Tate's elementary school here changed to year round this year so they have 9 weeks on and then 3 weeks off.  His kindergarten schedule is all day Mondays and Wednesdays and then Fridays just for the morning.  It has been so weird having him gone for lunch two days a week.  Finn and I are pretty lonely without him around but he always has a great time and is so happy when I pick him up.  That helps a lot.  Here's our big boy on his first day of Kindergarten.

Glenn went in late to work that morning so he could walk with us to school.  Tate loved that.  

And so did Finn.  Hard not to get emotional watching these three handsome guys walking to school together.  

This is the only picture I got of his teacher, Mrs. Watkins.  She is incredible.  So patient and loving and just perfect for Tate. I love the way she greets every kiddo as they arrive each morning.  She gets down on her knees and talks to each one for a bit to make sure they know she cares and is happy they came. 

Glenn went to work after we dropped Tate off and Finn and I went to the science museum to distract ourselves from how much we missed Tate.  Just the two of us.

It was weird and also lovely to have just one little boy to pay attention to.  I sure love my little Finn.  He has phases where he really likes to test how far he can push me, but when he's being nice, he's such a fun, happy, darling little boy.

By August we started getting more serious about moving to Saudi Arabia.  We couldn't tell people until we cleared some of our contingencies so it was really hard to continue living our lives and not say anything about the only thing we were thinking about all day!  Especially for Glenn, who had to go to work every day at a job he really wanted to be done with.  On August 7th we flew down to Houston for one night.  We spent Friday going through Aramco's orientation and getting medical tests done.  Just a blood test for me.  A little more in depth for Glenn...I'll leave it at that.  It was an encouraging and overwhelming day.  I left feeling like I had so much information but that it would take a few days to process what it would mean for me and how I would do in that situation.  The woman conducting our orientation had lived in Saudi for 25 years.  Grew up there and raised her family.  She had very very few negatives about the experience...but I guess that is her job.  So one of the first things I did when we got back was email my cousin, Katelyn to get her take.  We chatted on the phone a few days later and it was nice to hear the straight forward realities from her.  Granted, my living situation will be different than hers was in Saudi, but the realities of the culture and the adjustment are things I needed to hear.  

The next week we celebrated Glenn's birthday.  He and I spent the weekend downtown.  He wanted some new shoes and he wanted to test drive cars so that's how we spent most of our weekend.  It was fun to drive new cars and think about how different our every day will be with two more little people with us everywhere we go.  Even if we were staying here we'd need at to trade in at least one of our cars as neither of them will be able to fit our whole family come February.

We spent one beautiful August Saturday at Broomfield Bay with the Cluffs.  It was great to catch up with them and we LOVE the Bay.  It's the perfect size for our kids right now and they had so much fun swimming and playing there all morning.  And we loved the chance to catch up with the Cluffs, as always.

Every day that Tate's in school Finn and I walk just around the corner to go pick him up.  Finn rides his new little bike and wears his cool matching bike helmet.  He thinks he is super cool.  And he is correct.

Auntie Mallo came home from work one day and wanted to make oreo cake balls with the boys.  They had so much fun making a mess.  Especially Finn.  She is the best Auntie.  So fun and attentive.  She actually enjoys really playing with the boys and they love her because she loves them so so much.

I loved how funny Finny looked with oreo smashed all over his teeth.

August brought another doctor's appointment and ultrasound.  Turns out I get to see these little ones every month because an ultrasound is the only reliable way to make sure they get each baby's heartbeat.

At my 12 week appointment they did a blood test.  The blood test where they check for all sorts of genetic and other defects.  Apparently they also are able to determine gender now with the same blood test which was really surprising considering there are two babies gender to see from just my blood, but they said they could do it so we said we'd like to know.  A week later we got a phone call and they said all of the babies tests looks great, no problems that they could see.  And they told us that we are having two baby girls.  Two. Baby. Girls.  I was really surprised.  I'm so used to parenting boys and all the particular craziness that entails but girls are an entirely different story.  I went out on the porch and called Glenn and he could not have been more excited.  Then I went back inside and told my sisters and mom and thought about these two little girlies all day.  Apparently Glenn was doing the same thing.  He got off work early, went to Janie and Jack, and bought a HUGE bag full of baby girl clothes for our little girls.  And man, did he do a good job.  He came home and watched me unwrap everything and hold up each dress and shirt and tiny shoe and was just glowing with excitement and pride.  He is going to be an absolutely amazing daddy to these girls.  Well of course he is.  That's just what he does.  I'm glad these little ladies will have him as their daddy.  And I'm glad they'll have each other.  One girl could be kinda lonely with two big brothers but these girls will, hopefully, be great friends.

Also that week, we heard that we had received medical clearance and were just waiting for our visas.  At that point we decided we needed to start telling ward members because we knew that once our visas came in, it would be a matter of weeks before we'd be leaving.  We got mixed reactions.  Some people were very supportive and excited for our family's adventure.  Some think that we are crazy and were kind of in our faces about how we're making an incredibly stupid and unsafe decision.  It was frustrating and hurt my feelings a little bit to have people be unkind and judgmental about something that we have done a significant amount of research about in order to feel good about.  I just feel like this is what we're supposed to do.  That doesn't make it easy or comfortable.  In fact, it's still a really hard thing to do and to commit to every day.  But we are supposed to go.  And while I know it will be far from perfect, I also know that there are blessings that come from being where you are supposed to be and doing what you're asked to do.  Some days I am on the verge of tears all day thinking about the magnitude of this move and overwhelmed by the changes it will entail for us.  Part of that, I'm sure, has to do with the fact that I am extra pregnant and just one change like, selling a car or selling our house or moving my boy to a new school would be plenty.  But we are doing it all at once in a very big way.  Some days it's really overwhelming.  Most days, however, I am able to remember that this is an amazing adventure.  An adventure that very few families get the opportunity to have.  And the experiences we'll have will bind us together and make us stronger as a family.  Most days we are really excited and determined to make the most of this adventure.
The worst part of August, by far, was that Mallory left.  She moved out to NYC to go to school.  It was so wonderful having her here all summer.  She is the kindest Auntie and so helpful and thoughtful.  I'm so glad we got to live together again, even if the circumstances were not ideal.  I wish I had not been so sick the whole time.  I wish we could have made more yummy new recipes together and played more, but alas, it was not to be.  But at least I got to be around here and honestly, just being around her is pretty wonderful.  We miss her around here.  A lot.  But I'm glad she's having fun so far in NYC and loving her new life there.

My dad came into town one weekend in August and we decided it was a good night to hit up a Rockies game.  

 The boys loved eating ball park food, especially the popcorn.  And they were so super cute during the National Anthem.  It was a really fun night and the cheap tickets made it really easy to leave when the kiddos got tired.

The last weekend in August we went up to Estes Park to go camping with the Wilsons.  We had to leave Friday evening and had to be back for meetings and YW visits on Sunday so we only had one night of camping but it was so great.  The boys were in heaven setting up the tent, sleeping in sleeping bags, throwing sticks in the fire, roasting mallos, and playing with Sydney and Maddie.  It was exhausting but SO fun to see the boys just blissfully happy.  

 

Unfortunately our camera was on the fritz that weekend and we were able to get very few pictures of the trip.  We woke up, had breakfast, and then packed up our stuff.  Then we drove into the park with the Wilson family and the Lewis family from our ward and found a great hike up to a few lakes.  It was beautiful and the boys did so great.  Finn was a little slower but he didn't complain much.  Both of them tromped up the trail and back down with hardly a complaint at all...until it started to hail really hard right at the end.  That was really not great.  Luckily, we were only a little ways from the trailhead and a big pavilion to huddle under.  We ran down the rest of the way throw the huge pelting hail and then a minute or so after we had shelter, it stopped.
I somehow forgot to pack my nausea medicine.  I remembered everything else...but that one thing somehow slipped the list.  I was pretty sick all day so instead of sticking around for hot dogs over the fire, we drove home, did some laundry, and got the kiddos in bed early.  I'd forgotten how much work it is to go camping.  Tons of packing and prep and work to set up and take down and then air out and wash everything.  But it was absolutely worth it, even just for a night because the boys had so much fun.
So there it is.  Our busy, fun August.  Now we're nearly caught up!