2016 Thanksgiving Day letter

Dear Family and Friends,

I know I am a few days late.. .but... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Between preparing food for our yummy turkey dinner and wrangling our (nearly) 2 year old, the week was total chaos and I have not found a second to sit down with my laptop and express my thankfulness for the year I have been blessed with... and what a year it has been!!!

First I want to express how thankful I am for my amazing husband.  Paul and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in July.  It has been the most amazing 6 years of my life.  I am thankful that we can still make each other laugh and our favorite thing to do is spend time with each other.  Years ago... I'm guessing 9... a dear friend of mine told me that at the end of the day, the person she enjoys being around the most is her husband.  At that time in my life, it did not make sense to me.  Now I understand what she meant.  Paul is my very favorite person.  He is my best friend, my partner, the best dad to my babies and the most amazing provider.  I am thankful every single day that I have eternity to spend with my sweet man.

I'm thankful for the 2 wonderful years I have been Afton's mommy.  I cannot believe she will be 2 on Sunday.  How in the world is that possible?  She is so incredibly sassy and full of energy.  She keeps me on my toes and by the end of the day I am worn out.  She is so beautiful and I know she is a very special daughter of God.  I'm thankful she is mine!

I'm thankful for this pregnancy.  After Afton's birth I very clearly remember looking at Paul and saying "I'm never doing this again".  I can honestly say I am very content with Afton being an only child and I feel very complete... but with that said... I am incredibly thankful for this added bonus that will join our family in May.I told Paul, after we had Afton, that if we had a 2nd baby, it would be because he felt impressed that we needed to add one more member to our family.  I'm thankful he was able to feel that impression and come to me with his feelings.  I cannot wait to meet baby Levi.  I cannot wait to spend those 2 days in the hospital snuggling with him and enjoying the mommy/son bonding that will come during that time.  I cannot wait to see Paul hold his son for the first time.  Levi Samuel, you are already loved so much.

I'm thankful for the memories I have been able to make this past summer.  I have had my toes in the sand in California and Virginia.  I have driven through more states than most people visit in a lifetime.  I have checked so many things off of my bucket list in just one short summer.  I have met amazing people, had amazing bonding time with my sister and sweet niece, made beautiful memories with my mom that will last a lifetime, I have stayed up late chatting with my dad in his living room and realizing that I'm never too old to get advice from him.  I've had strep in the middle of summer for the first time and I had my first 3 nights away from Afton.  It has been a magical summer and I'm thankful for everyone I was able to spend it with!

I'm SO incredibly thankful for my Heavenly Father.  With all of the joy that 2016 has brought, there haven been plenty of moments that have been filled with tears and frustration.  In February, we came to the incredibly sad realization that our dream of moving out West would not be happening and we needed to start making arrangement to settle our family in Virginia.  I'm thankful for the counsel my Mom gave Paul while we were in Utah, dealing with the sudden realization that our plan was not the Lord's plan.  In June, we experienced a miscarriage.  That was such a humbling experience to go through.  It made me feel like I could connect with so many more women out there who had gone through the same thing.  I was in Utah at the time and Paul was in Virginia.  I'm thankful that even with the distance between us, we could still lean on each other for support.  I'm thankful that Heavenly Father was there with us during those difficult moments... even if I felt totally broken and did not necessarily feel his presence at moment the trial was happening.  Looking back, I know he was right there beside us.

I have so much to look forward to in 2017.  We will be buying a house and moving to one of our neighboring counties, Levi will be joining our family, 2 motor competitions for Paul and I am sure we will figure out how to fill up the rest of the year.  I KNOW I am blessed.  We put up our Christmas tree last night and did some minimal decorations in our living room.  It's amazing how a little tree, covered with lights, can bring so much joy and such a beautiful spirit into our tiny apartment.  I'm thankful for the holiday season.  Being able to focus on the birth of our Savior and being able to focus on the upcoming birth of my own son.

Happy Holidays dear friends and family!

EQ

Excited!!!!!

Paul and I are SOOOO excited to announce we are expecting our second baby.  We could not be happier knowing we will have a new little one in our home come June 2017.  This pregnancy has been similar and different from my first.  I am having bad headaches again this time around but I do not have the food aversions or the horrible vomiting like I did with Afton.  I have moments when I am so tired I cannot hardly function and then I'll go days not needing naps and feeling really good.

Baby Quillon is due May 26 and the doctor has already told me they will probably induce me on my due date if I am not making good progress the checkup before my due date.  Those were sweet words to hear.

I will write more when I am into my 2nd trimester and we know what we are having.  Probably in January.  I hate that they make you wait so long before finding out!

EQ

NYC/MISSOURI trips!

Oh my gosh, what a summer it was!!!!  Pauls working an overtime assignment right now and Afton's sound asleep so there is no time like the present to talk about my end of summer trips!

Mom came to VA and we drove to NYC!    

Last summer, we found out that the 2016 9/11 foundation memorial ride would most likely be the last due to cooperation issues between the foundation and VA hwy patrol. For 5 years I have told Paul I wanted to see them ride into downtown NYC and I'd 2016 was the last year, I was going!!!  I called my mom and  jokingly asked if she wanted to come with me. Not really expecting a "yes". To my surprise she was SO excited about the trip and the planning started. I was thrilled to find out that mom did not have to start school until the very end of August so she came to VA for 3 wonderful weeks!!! We started her visit with a mother/ daughter trip to VA beach. It's about 3 1/2 hours from us so we left early in the morning and came home late that evening. It rained while we were there so we hunkered down under our beach umbrella and enjoyed listening to the rain and the waves. I ended up buying a sweatshirt bc it was quite cool that day. After the beach we worked on ironing our our NYC plans and finishing up a lot of little projects I had been working on. Through all of this my mom kept complaining she did not feel well. We stocked up on cold medicine for her and vitamin c for Paul and I but we ended up catching her crud. Finally after a week of all of us doing nothing but getting worse, Paul took himself to prompt care only to find out he had strep.... Mom and I immediately loaded ourselves and Afton into the car and headed to prompt care. Sure enough... Mom and I had strep too. Of all the things my mom could have brought from Utah,  strep was not one I would have picked!  Thank goodness for antibiotics, we all healed just in time for our trip. 

My sweet friend Kelley took Afton while mom and I were gone and it was a life saver!!!!!!!!  I honestly don't think we would have had the trip we did with a toddler in tow. 

In NYC we went to the 9/11 memorial and museum, Statue of Liberty, Ellis island, Empire State Building, Serendipity for ice cream and saw fiddler on the roof on Broadway!! This was definitely a "bucket list " vacation. I'm so so thankful I got to experience all of these amazing things with my mom. 

Mom and I had an amazing time in VA Beach right after she arrived.  We were anticipating warmer weather, but you can probably tell by my sweatshirt... it was not quite as warm as we thought it would be.  We found a beach umbrella for sale as we were walking to the beach so we bought it and we were SO thankful for it because when it started to rain, we were able to hunker down under our umbrella and still have a wonderful time! It was one of the most relaxing days I had all summer.  Being able to bury my toes in the sand and listening to nothing but the waves coming in was exactly what I needed that day.  One thing I love about my mom is that we don't need to be surrounded by noise all the time.  We are pretty good at knowing when the other simply needs a moment of silence.  

Oh my word... Afton had a great time with her Maw Maw while she was here!  Mom taught her all of the important thing in life... like how to talk to Suri and why it's important to always lick the spatula when you are baking!  During one of our MANY JoAnn Fabric runs, Afton was struggling.... to say the least... so mom put her in the bin outside of the store.  A man walked by and said he would not pay $9.99 for her b/c she looked too mean!!!!  hahahahaha.  

We had a few rough moments during the visit.  Mom got off of her plane, got into my car and within the first few minutes of our drive home she was complaining that her throat was hurting.  Convinced it was just allergies or a cold, we loaded up on all of the over the counter stuff we could find.  Nothing helped her.  Instead, Paul and I both started to feel sick.  After about a week of the three of us feeling gross, Paul went to urgent care to get checked out and sure enough... he had strep.  Mom and I grabbed Afton and headed to urgent care too and found out that ALL of us had strep. Well, not Afton.  She ended up with a horrible sinus infection and ear infection about a week later.  

Mom brought Afton a tent when she came to visit. She made one for both of the little girls.  Afton loves it!!!  I cannot wait until we have room in our next home to keep it set up all the time.  I'm so blessed to have a mom who has so much talent!  

At bed time, Afton would crawl into bed with Mom and they would talk and sing and laugh.  It was so fun to listen to.  They have such a sweet bond.  

New York was AAAMMMAAAZZZIIINNNNGGGG!!!!!!  My sister and I were planning on going next summer, but it is going to have to wait util the summer after.  Mom and I had the BEST time!  It was truly a trip of a lifetime.  I always hear people talk about seeing the world... I dont need to see the world.  There are so many wonderful things to see right here in the USA!!!  I cannot wait to return to the Big Apple!  Thanks Mom for being the person I made these wonderful memories with!

FOOD!!!!!!!  Oh my gosh NYC has amazing food!  I can honestly say, of all the things we ate, my favorite thing was the $1.00 hotdog from some little hotdog stand!  I have ALWAYS wanted to buy a hotdog in NYC and that is exactly what we did!  This picture of my mom and I is priceless!  It really depicts our trip in one single picture!  

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum were spectacular.  The spirit I felt there was amazing.  When I first read that they were putting million and millions of dollars into this memorial, I assumed it was going to be over done and not needed.  Now that I have been to ground zero and touched the names that are on the walls around the fountains... my mine was changed.  Those who have survived this tragedy deserve this memorial.  Those who lost their lives deserve this memorial. Seeing where families or friends have placed flowers on some of the names made me realize that this is a place for people to come and mourn and remember those who were taken from us.  I cannot wait to take Afton to this memorial when she is old enough to understand what happened that day.  

My mom has had one huge thing on her bucket list her entire life. That was to see the Statue of Liberty.  What an amazing day that was for us.  We did not do a good job when it came to thinking the day through.  We walked from our hotel to Liberty Park and when we realized we needed to walk all the way back, we suddenly became aware of the fact that we could have driven to Liberty Park and just parked out car!!!  lol.  Oh my gosh we felt so dumb at that moment.  It was so hot and we were so tired and I was a weeeeee bit sunburned.  I wont say exactly how we got back to our hotel... but we did not have to walk and it was a blessing!  Mom and I both came away from that experience with a renewed thankfulness for our citizenship and the fact that we did not have to endure what those men and women had to all those years ago.  

Mom and I went to see Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway!  It was WONDERFUL!!!!!!  It is one of our all time favorite plays and being able to see it live was such an amazing experience.  We had outstanding seats.  I found myself singing through the entire play.  Before the play started we had dinner at the Stardust Diner. If you ever have a chance to go, it's so much fun.  All of the waiters are aspiring broadway actors.  They take turns singing broadway numbers.  I'll definitely go again!

The M&M store was a lot of fun to wonder through and pick out the little girls a couple cute things!

I have always wanted to go to Serendipity for their frozen hot chocolate.  I'm so thankful mom talked me into it when I was saying it would be too expensive and too far of a walk.  It was so much fun and oh my gosh the servings are HUGE!!!!!

By the time we made it through the line and to the top of the Empire State Building it was raining.  I was extremely reluctant to go outside onto the balcony but mom drug me out there and said we did not come all this way to stay inside.  The view was spectacular.  

The reason we went to NYC was because Paul was escorting the 9/11 Foundation Memorial Ride.  This is the 15th year of the ride and we have been told that it is quite possibly the last year.  When we were told this last fall, I told Paul I was not going to miss this experience. I called mom and asked if she wanted to come with me and she was so excited!  I still cannot believe we actually went.  It was amazing to see the thousands of motorcycles ride into downtown NYC that night.  I was so proud to watch my sweet husband doing what he loves and doing something that so few offices have the opportunity to participate in!  The 9/11 Foundation motorcycle is being put in the 9/11 memorial museum and Paul was asked to be one of only a handful of officers to sign it.  I am so proud to know that we can take our children there in the future and they can see their dads name on this piece of history.  I could not be more proud!

Afton and I ended the summer with a trip to Missouri to see my dad and brother.  We were there for a week and had a wonderful time.  

I was able to grab takeout from my very favorite fast food place in St. Louis.  I'd kill to have a Crazy Bowls and Wraps in VA!  It was so fun giving Afton the chance to get to know my dad and brother better.  It took her a little bit but she warmed up to them pretty quickly. 

John took us out on his boat.  I call it the Dingy.  Its a tiny little thing but we had the most wonderful time.  We fished and spent the day just relaxing.  The pictures do not do the day justice.  It was absolutely beautiful.  

We had lunch with my mom's siblings and some cousins in Hannibal, MO the Sunday before I left.  We stopped by the cemetery to give Erin some fresh flowers.  It was wonderful to see Afton being so sweet while we were there.  She kept walking up to Erin's headstone and patting it and rubbing it.  It's almost as if she knew who we were there to see.  Maybe she did!

I had some free time while Dad worked so I made him some chili for his freezer and a fall and christmas wreath.  He is not much of a decorator so I knew he would not go out and buy a wreath on his own, lol.  I do my best to make him a little less grinch when it comes to the holidays!

Afton enjoyed her first experience with bubbles at Johns.  She LOVED them!  It was so fun to see her interacting with John and really having  a good time!!!!!!!!

This summer has been so busy.  I have driven through:

Utah

Arizona

Nevada

California

Maryland

Delaware

New Jersey

New York

Virginia

West Virginia

Indiana

Kentucky

Illinois 

Missouri

I have had my feet in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and have literally been from one coast to the other.  This has been a summer of firsts and I cannot express how much fun I have had during these adventures!  

I hope you summer was full of wonderful memories too!

EQ