Happy 90th Birthday Grandpa Thomas!

What a blessing it was to be able to spend such a special weekend with the Thomas family. It is truly amazing to look at this giant group of incredible people and think how they all came from these two amazing people. My grandparents truly are the most amazing two people in the world. I am so blessed to call them mine. They have been through so much and are just the strongest, sweetest couple in the world. My grandpa was so touched by his sweet surprise party. It was so wonderful to see many of my cousins and aunts and uncles that were able to come and we were even missing a bunch! I'm not sure how many more years we will be blessed to spend with these two wonderful people but they have touched my life and I am eternally grateful for them and all they have done for my family and myself. 

 Great Grandkids

Grandkids- my lens couldn't quite fit everyone

Surprise!!

Holy cow, we pulled it off! This surprise party for my mom's birthday has literally been in the works for months. Originally we planned to book a flight for me to fly to Idaho so I could got to a reunion but in the process of booking it my dad called and asked if I would be willing to drive instead. Picking him up along the way and we could drive together but he wanted it to be a surprise. SO I had to mislead my mom quite a bit for quite awhile to pull this crazy shenanigan off. Luckily she was sensitive to my being left out and didn't press me too much although she expressed her disappointment that I wasn't coming to EVERYONE. haha BUT we pulled it off and had Aunt Dalene bring her to a restaurant in Pocatello where we surprised her with her entire family being there (minus my family and Emil). She bawled and so did my sweet grandpa. Since we were going to have his 90th surprise party the next day were 75% of his entire family would be there we were worried he would be too overwhelmed since this really got to him. He was super sweet. He told us that if he were to die today he would die a happy man, it was such a sweet moment. On the way up we got to stop and see John and Taylor play in some soccer games and I got a few pictures.

Skylee's first U-8 Game

Skylee had her very first game today and did a great job. I have been coaching the team and it has been quite an adventure. But they all did a great job today and I am super proud of my team. 

An Update

Since this is our family journal I figured it would be good to update where we are in life right now. Skylee is in second grade at Hualapai Elementary. She was placed in the advanced class this year and so far has come home so much happier than the past two years (we will see how long that lasts). She is taking piano, a tumbling class and we just signed her up for soccer (I'm a little nervous to see how that will go). Since we have moved to Kingman we have never been in town more than three weeks in a row so this 12 week soccer commitment is a big deal but it will be good for us and I think there is a week or two off in September  so I think we will make it. 
        Jaston's preschool teacher is having a baby this month so he won't be starting preschool until the end of this month. So far he has enjoyed having some free time at home without a sister trying to control their "play." We took him to a dermatologist last week because he had warts all over his body ( we are talking probably over fifty warts on his hands, feet, and belly). They put some acid on it. If I would have known how much pain it would cause him, I wouldn't have allowed them to do it. His skin blistered up and it was horrible. It has been over a week now and his skin is scabbing and peeling. Totally broke my heart seeing him in so much pain. Other than those he has been doing great. He can be such a sweet heart and we sure love him.
       Brielle is 16 months and starting to get into the tantrum-throwing, I-want-my-way-always stage which is a little humorous sometimes and a lot exhausting. She is also trying to break two molars and it hasn't been super fun. BUT when she isn't super ornery and she is getting her way she is sure a sweetie. We love her to death and still can't get enough of her. She is signing and starting to talk a little. We decided we think her first word besides Mama and Dada is cheese. She loves cheese and says it perfectly. We are still in the process of breaking her from the bottle but are down to about one bottle a day. Progress! The binky is next but I don't usually push that one until nursery comes along (3 hours of church without a binky?  no way!)
        Just before school started this year ASDB (Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind) asked how much I was willing to interpret because they were in need of two full time interpreters. I told them I could do a few hours a day. After not feeling right about that and some sleepless nights, I let them know that just wouldn't work for me. They then asked if I would interpret one class on tues and Thurs for one hour. That was a much more reasonable request that I didn't feel would take from my family or add too much stress, so I accepted. Today was my first day (I subbed and did four hours) and man am I rusty! BUT I loved it. I sure miss interpreting. I did get licensed this summer so I look forward to interpreting a little bit more this fall in the community. I have a workshop I'm teaming with someone next weekend I'm really looking forward to. I am so lucky to say that most of my time I get to be a stay at home mom and I absolutely love it and feel so blessed!
     As for Jeff... wow where even to begin. We have been with the cancer center for two years now and it has been a great job for Jeff (minus the drama) but he feels it is time for a change. SO he went to administration a month or so ago and told them he was done at the cancer center. They let him know they didn't want to let him go and handed him a list of other possibilities for Nurse Practioners within their company. He has been seriously contemplating becoming a hospitalist and that was an option so he began looking into that. He worked out all the details and gave his notice to the cancer center and then about two weeks later his boss, Dr. Naegele, decided to give her resignation as well. So now the administration is asking Jeff to reconsider staying until at least they get a new doctor. He is quite frustrated and still feels the hospitalist position is the right choice at this time. He feels he needs to build his resume and it would challenge him more than the cancer clinic is right now. He will meet with administration tomorrow and hopefully figure out for sure when his quit/start date would be. He has been through so much the past few months but is handling it all SO much better than I would. It looks like for now he will be staying at the cancer center until they can figure out his scope of practice since they have never had a Nurse Practioner in a hospitalist position before. 
       Even though where he is going to be we are so blessed that he has a solid job. Despite really having a hard time when we moved here, Kingman is really growing on us. We still miss being close to family and friends but we go back often (more often than we probably should) and we are really coming to love the people here in Kingman. We don't know what the Lord has in store for us but we are full of gratitude for all He has blessed us with. 

First Day of Second Grade!!

This little lady had her first day of Second Grade today and her Momma is in TOTAL denial. I feel like the summer just flew by. I honestly am sad to see her go back to school. Yes, I'm tired of her  and Jaston fighting but she is such a huge help around the house, it will be hard to see her head off to school and on those rough days she is the one to be sensitive and tell me she loves me. I didn't know I was feeling this way until I went to drop her off today and she asked I just pull up to the school and let her hop out. I must admit this took me by surprise. Don't get me wrong, i was grateful because I was heading to the gym and looked awful but for her to not NEED her Mom broke my heart a little. Embarassingly enough I dropped her off and started bawling. I was really surprised at my reaction to her leaving ( I mean this is her third year of school). 

Skylee Winger

Wants to be a First Grade Teacher when she grows up

Fav Color: Red

Fav Food: Hot Dog

Fav Game: Yahtzee and Minecraft

Favorite place : Beach

Fav Animal: Giraffe

We sure love our Skylee!

Back to School Pics

Charlsie did a Back to School photo booth and took some adorable pictures of the kids.

Party Time!

For Skylee's birthday since we had just got back from our vacation the night before we decided to keep it simple. We invited a few families over and had cupcakes and ice cream and a little water party. It was fun and super low key- just my kind of party. We have been so blessed with great friends here in Kingman. 

Vegas Baby!

My vacation pictures are in crazy order and all over the place but I did several posts about our awesome vacation with Teona's family to California. Of course my first post is our last day but keep going and you'll get to the beginning. 

We decided to get part of the way home Wed and then stay the night in Vegas so we could celebrate Skylee's birthday Thursday while everyone was still together. We stayed at the Golden Nugget and enjoyed their awesome pool. I even braved the shark tank water slide (ok so I've done it once before so it wasn't as scary ). Nana came up to celebrate with Skylee for her bday too and I feel bad. At this point in the trip we had all kind of reached our limit and were a tiny bit on the tired and ornery side (ok EXTREMELY on those sides) but we still had a great time and partied hard! Nana took Skylee shopping for school clothes and spoiled her rotten. We also did the Caesar's Palace and Cheesecake Factory as well as the Belagio for the water show the night before. We partied HARD on this vacation and it literally took me over a week to recover-in fact I'm not quite all the way there yet... 

Here's my boy, never goes anywhere without his cars. Man, I love him!

These two have such a special bond. Skylee sure loves her Nana!

Skylee is finally swimming! She gets a little nervous if she goes too long without you but she can do it! Yay!