Doggett Reunion in the rain...

Once upon a time, a very long time ago we moved to West Virginia for the first year of residency. I don't talk about it very often because it gives me PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) when I reflect back on living in a place that I couldn't have imagined. I honestly had no idea in my Utah bubble brain that places like that existed in America.  They deep fried their bologna sandwiches. They call the carts, "buggies" in an accent that you have to train yourself to understand. We literally lived in the middle of absolute nowhere in a house the size of a hamster cage. We drove away with a moving truck on Liv's 10th day of being alive. It was all very awesome as you can imagine. Me, with raging post birth hormones and emotions still using an ice pack with a 10 day old screeching baby moving away from my dream job, every friend, family member and thing I knew and loved.  Let us not dwell on the negative because there was one bright shining star of redemption that lived right across the street.... The Doggett family.

When I met Tara she was 7 months pregnant and they were living in their own hamster cage with Casey in his third year of residency.  I honestly feel like meeting Tara was like meeting a helicopter during the Titanic.  Their boys were Liv's protectors and her very first friends on Earth.

 When Casey graduated and they moved back to Washington, there was clearly no point in staying in West Virginia so we transferred to Denver (also a modern day miracle and evidence that Heavenly Father knew I would shrivel up like a social barnacle and die in that "wild and wonderful" place) and we promised that we would get together someday when we both didn't qualify for WIC and live in a crazy town.  Well, that prophecy came true.  There was a medical conference in Seattle and it was a no brainer. An epic reunion was in order.  It was so funny to go from this:

 To This:

 Liv and Arianna who could barely sit up when we last saw her were now both capable of talking like an adult and throwing a great tantrum.  It was so fun to see Elliot, Levi and Arianna again.  Grace obviously had no recognition of anybody but she was thrilled to be there just the same. We loved every minute of being in Spokane and then heading to Seattle.

We stayed in downtown Seattle and could walk to the Space needle and anywhere we wanted to be. We rode the monerail, went to Pikes market, ate heavenly Thai food, went to the childrens science center and saw as many sights as you can see when you have 5 kids under 5.

 (Liv was really into reading her map the whole walk over to the science center.

 Being at Pikes market did not inhibit Grace from having a fabulous tantrum right on the floor.

 We rode a ferris wheel over the pier and it was just as delightful as it sounded. Liv was thrilled.

 I was completely mesmerized by the human statues.

We soaked up every second in the rain. Touching sea anemones. Authentic pizzarias. More cultural diversity than Liv has seen in her whole lifetime. Umbrellas. Laughing. Eating Chocolate molten lava cake in the hotel lounge. Levi asking if the homeless man was real. Chipotle. Swimming in an lukewarm pool for hours. Butterfly pavilon.

Grace had some very clean sleeping quarters.

We absolutely loved Seattle. But even more than that we love the Doggett family.  You know you are real friends when years can pass and it feels like you just hung out an hour ago when you see them. This may have been the first reunion but it will not be the last. 

Em and Cole come to town...

Em moved to Arizona. I have to write it so that my mind will hopefully one day fully process that implications of that news.  Em moved to Arizona. It felt like she was as permanent as Macey's grocery store in Provo because she had been there for so long but suddenly Nick got a new job and BAM they were moving. Not moving, moved. They are currently wearing sun screen and playing with lizards next to their pomegranate tree while I am digging around finding socks for Liv to wear on her hands because I can't find any gloves for the snow.  Anyway, even though she had only been away three weeks, she decided to come for a week to stay and it was heaven. As usual.

 Unless your arms are amputated, nails is a classic activity that is timeless as bras. It just has to be done any time there is a gathering of females. It's just the way it is.

Since American Falls doesn't have many world renowned sights and activities, taking them to the pharmacy was a big event for us.  It was delightful. I would say the Rockland Pharmacy is by far one of the top 2 highlights of things to do in this town. We are clearly still working on Grace's forced smile...

 We also had the honor of being chosen as the chili cook off judges at the scarecrow and chili feed auction so we gave Em and Cole a taste of the town and they were thoroughly impressed.  

 It's safe to say that there is no one my girls mutually adore more than cousin Cole.  We are all very well trained professionals at lurping around and staying in our pajamas so that is precisely what we did...

 We also went to the big city and did a little shopping.  I wanted to put my hand over my heart when we walked into Targets hallowed halls.  It had been far too long.

 We also discovered a pumpkin patch that puts commercialized Cornbellys to shame. We found the real deal, saw off your own, take a tractor to the field pumpkin patch and it was the most quintessential fall thing I have done thus far. Observe.

It looks fake. But its real. Idaho crisp fall air, green tractor type of real. It was so delightful.

It even came complete with "dig for your own potatoes" in a bin. I'm telling you, this state gets better every day.

 In case you can't tell, she doesn't have a black eye, she is a puppy. Free face painting was only the beginning of our perks.

It was fall at its finest.  We finished by picking up Wingers salads for dinner and then after the sidekicks were asleep we watched Shark Tank and then just talked about nothing. And there's nothing I love more.  

It always feels like too long until we see them again.  Cole will give Grace the emotional support she needs in the meantime...

Polish Party in the Lovely Deseret....

I just ripped off the whole month of October from our calendar and it didn't even have a thing written down because it went too fast. We kicked it off by going to Conference in Utah where Garrett had a Polish mission reunion.

The Polish was really fun....for everyone that spoke Polish.  We did sealings before the dinner....in Polish.  All the Elders (former) were in heaven.  All the wives had glazed eyes since we sat for 2 hours without understanding anything.  I think I feel the spirit and concentrate much better in English.

While the men all went to Priesthood we went with the ladies to Riverwoods...

We made wishes in the fountain, ate chocolate apples at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory (if you haven't partaken of such a dessert, you must make all the necessary sacrifices to do so).

We also enjoyed Bikenstaffs childrens toy store where you can ride a rocking horse the size of a real pony. It smells much nicer. And the back isn't sweaty. I like horseback riding except I have always had a problem with the fact that the horses back is disgustingly sweaty. Lets get back to the recap and not linger on sweaty horses.

We spent the night at my grandma Harris' house.  I know everyone loves their grandma but if you met my grandma you would feel raging jealousy that she isn't on your family tree.  There's not a better 85 year old anywhere. She's more entertaining than watching a redbox and has the most delightful personality of anyone I know.

 

Coming to Utah is always  a treat but one of the added bonuses is the fact that Liv and Grace basically feel like they are at Disneyland. In fact Disneyland might be a bit of a let down because I don't think Micky would be nearly as interested in giving them attention as my family is.  Liv loves being in charge and had the whole family hold up these ripped pieces of paper. She didn't have a plan, she just liked the power and had everyone pass them back in and then after she had collected them she passed them back out... you get the idea.

Liv's face in this photo accurately depicts her feelings about being at my moms house.

Em and Cole flew into Provo on Sunday so Grace was beyond delighted to have her best friend back.  

Even though I didn't grow up in Lehi and have lived in 4 different houses in the last 4 years, it always always feels like nowhere else on Earth to pull up in the driveway and be home.

It's been quite a year...

 Happy one year anniversary of not writing on the blog to me. Since Garrett got 5 new wives, I figured I should start documenting things of such epic proportions and have recommitted to writing. The rebirth of commitment is not because people read it, but because I need to write it. I realize that if I don't write it, life just seems to pass by like a blurry fog and I don't want to forget moments that seem to just evaporate.  Thankfully, these women are not Garrett's new wives, just the other graduates from residency.

 There are few things as liberating as shaking the shackles of residency and driving away from him working insane hours every week making less than the cashier at Little Ceasars.  I can honestly say residency was just as miserable and horrible as I heard.  I like to call Rose hospital the marriage wrecking ball plant. I honestly don't think Gar ever left our house later than 6:30 am and more often than not came home long after the girls were asleep and I had heavy eyeballs myself. I'm sure there are a lot of positive ways to talk about how residency brought us closer, how learning to budget and pinch pennies made us stronger, and how the opposition helped us but all I have to say when I think of residency is good riddance.  I will forever and ever be thankful to angel friends who literally saved me, helped me, took care of my kids, and were joy bringers into my world.  In third grade my teacher, Mrs. Glenn had a sign that said, "A friend is a gift you give yourself."  Well, if that is true then I gave myself a lot of gifts in Colorado. I hated saying goodbye. The only thing stronger than that hatred was my loathing of residency so we had to move...

 The new job paid for our move so I spent 3 days with some great moving dudes. Bernie, the 75 year old was my favorite. I told him my grandpa golfs. He told me that he was born working and he would die working. No golf for Bernie.

We took a few days in our journey and enjoyed staying where Teddy Roosevelt stayed years ago.  We knew it was the original hotel because they still haven't installed air conditioning. 

 

We accidentally packed all our shoes so the girls and I realized that we had no shoes when we tried to drive away.  We reached a whole new level of ghetto when we had to walk barefoot into the thrift store on our way out of town. Liv selected some fabulous rain boots which she faithfully wore for the duration of the trip.

Our first night in Idaho the girls got on this blue sled and we relished the big backyard and they laid in the grass.  It smelled like cow poop. The John Deere factory is our next door neighbor. There are potato and sugar beet transporting trucks on the street at the one stop light in town. We had arrived in Idaho. Home sweet home.