May? Seriously?

I knew it had been a long time since I had posted anything, but my last post was in May?  Really?  So, I suppose we have lots of catching up to do.  I feel like most of you know about most of the events from the last six months, but I will go through it if there is anything that you missed.  I think I will do one blog post for each month. 

There are lots of reasons why I haven't posted anything here, but mainly, I am trying to write in my actual journal more, I have been doing a blog for someone else, and I've had writers block.  The blog for someone else is for our very good friends from Morro Bay (well, they live in Atascadero, but we knew them in Morro Bay) whose one-year-old got has been in the Children's Hospital in Oakland for the past three months because he got e-coli which led to kidney failure and they had to remove portions of his intestines and a whole lot of other problems.  And I have been doing a blog for them to keep everyone updated on how he is doing.  And he is not better, but he went home this week which is a big deal for them!  Anyway, so here is my life in May/June:

May and June were really crazy months.  Dylan was almost entirely out of town, and I packed up everything we owned, which was a lot more stuff than 8 years ago when we moved last.  Thankfully, they released me from being primary president in May, freeing up some time and brainspace for the move.  Being primary president was a lot like being a parent - you never, ever, ever feel like you are staying on top of things and doing a good job.  But when they called the new primary president, they called someone that has five kids including a one year old and newborn, and her husband has difficult work hours.  So, as I sat holding her screaming one-year-old while her husband was at the hospital, so she could be set apart, for some reason, I did not have that sense of relief that I had hoped for.  I mean she will be really wonderful, but I felt bad to be passing the torch.

We also did Tanner and Carter's birthdays in there somewhere.  I only did minimum required birthdays: park, cake, a few friends.  Tanner was very specific on what he wanted for a cake: a train and Dora.  I made Dora out of fondant, but she apparently ate too much cake because she was pretty pudgy.  Here are some pictures:

Ethan's last day of school was like June 6th, and we had the Dirty Dash on the 8th and the Perkes family reunion on June 10th, and Cami's wedding on June 15th, so the moment that Ethan got home from the school bus, we got in the car and drove to Utah.  Dylan couldn't come out because he was too crazy busy with work, so I drove out by myself with the boys.  But I actually caravanned with my friend Jen and her boys which was great because then when kids had to go to the bathroom or such, I didn't have to haul everyone into a bathroom stall together. 

The Dirty Dash was on Saturday which was a really great time.  I had not really been running a whole lot because I had been so busy, so I was worried I was going to be left in the dust mud by everyone I was related to, so was really excited when I caught up to Ammon about halfway through the race and ran the rest of it with him.  There was an excessive amount of mud and an even more excessive amount of people and a giant slip and slide.  Then we did the Piglet Plunge with Ethan, Carter, Soren, Katie, and Isaac which was great for my boys and Isaac, but a little traumatizing for Soren (and Dan).  Thank you family for getting muddy with me!  Here are some pictures:

Ammon and I really did get as muddy as Katie, we just had already ice-bathed and changed our shirts before this picture.

Then after a good many showers and playing at Cami's house, we headed out to somewhere in the middle of nowhere for the reunion.   That day, Tanner had a fever and a bad rash on his hands and feet, and I was quite sure that he had hand, foot, and mouth disease which is super contagious, and that we were going to infect my entire extended family that I haven't seen in 9 years.  Well, so far as I know, nobody did get it, but he was clingy and grumpy for most of the reunion.  And then in the wee hours of the morning, when we were sleeping twelve people in one room (triple bunks), Ethan threw up on my parent's bed from above them (but not my parents).  So then Ethan and Carter basically slept the whole time, Tanner cried, and I stressed out because we didn't have a place to move to when we got home.  So, we were not the greatest company.  But I still am glad that I got to see everyone since it had been so long.  It was particularly nice to meet my cousin Spencer's wife Sam and get to know Spencer as an adult.  They really fit nicely into our little family while we were there since nobody else was there from their family.

I was so happy when Dylan texted me while we were there and told me we got a place to live, for real.  It took sooooo much work, and we had several places we thought we were going to get, and then didn't, and so after like three months of looking on craigslist at least once a day, I didn't know what to do with myself when I didn't have to do that anymore!

Cami's wedding was really great.  Tanner and Soren were supposed to be the flower boy and ring bearer, respectively, and both freaked out at the last minute and had to be forced down the aisle by Dylan and Ammon, respectively, but it was still really great.  It is nice to have Dan as a part of our family, and to see Cami so happy.  Here are some pictures (all out of order):

Not my new man.  Dan's friend.  Don't worry, Dylan.  Still love you lots.  I'm yours forever.

(This was before the freak out)

And then we drove back, and stopped to check out some salt:

And then we stopped and signed a lease and picked up our keys and went and saw our place for the first time.  I looked at hundreds of places via craigslist and google maps, and even though at the end we were desperate enough that we just told property managers we wanted to rent their place without even looking at it first, we ended up in such a nice house and exactly where I wanted to live and felt like we should live.  I didn't even unpack from my trip, I just left the stuff here, and went home and packed up everything else.

Then, thanks to good friends who watched the kids while I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned; and thanks to the Pattersons for helping us move stuff up to our new place, we did get it all done.  And even though our morro bay house had holes in the wall and stains on the carpet, we got our entire deposit back which I really appreciated. I cried when I had to leave my keys locked inside the house and drive away.

And then we were moved!  I was pretty tired, like for months.  We unpacked basically everything in two days because I just wanted to be done with it.  And that was June.

Here are some fun music videos to watch in case you knew everything you just read and wanted something more.  The boys love every OK Go video (who doesn't!), and then the Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros one is just a pleasant one to watch. 

OK Go - Here It Goes Again

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Man on Fire

On to July/August.  Maybe tomorrow.  At least before next July.