October 2016- Daybreak Halloween

Our recent move to Daybreak neighborhood, South Jordan, has pushed us to attempt getting involved in the community as much as possible. We want to experience the restaurants, parks, shops, events, and meet our neighbors to make new friends.

I joined the residents Facebook Group, thus fueling my addiction to checking my phone too often for updated posts. It allowed me to see what socials were happening, and the houses that were getting decorated for Halloween. People are festive here!
 I only wish I had the budget for our new home to get more holiday decorations, but alas, we had to make do. We left all of ours behind in Arizona in the GREAT PURGE of 2016.

October already underway, I was itching to take Otto to a pumpkin patch and dress in Fall weather clothes. I never made it to the pumpkin patch, and we never did carve a pumpkin, and we were overdressed when we tried to wear hats and scarves as the weather stayed fairly warm.
So, we walked.




We take long walks around the lake and down to the grocery store.
Our weekends were full of house projects so there wasn't much time for Fall activities anyway.




However, I left the boys at home to engage in Frightmares at Lagoon with my sister and brother-in-law!
One of my favorite places! It was a busy crowd and we only got to ride a few favorites once before we were worn out and ready to go home. Still, I rode the Cannibal and I survived! Good ol' Utah fun.






I prepared for our Halloween costumes as Elsa, Olaf, and Sven. I never wear a wig unless I have to, so I arranged to get my hair done for the big day. It took 4 hours to complete! It is a good thing I love the look, because it is here to stay.
Otto practiced being Olaf all month. He told everyone, he was so excited. He would say, "I'm gonna be Olaf for Halloween! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!"
He got to be Olaf on the last dance class of the month and it was adorable.

Otto is coming into his own 2 year old sassiness with more, "No!" and "Don't tell me what to do!" being heard around our house. I can see now more than ever how many parents compare two year olds to thirteen year olds. He is exploring his rapidly progressing linguistic skills and asserting is independence (I tell myself in quiet moments after a time-out session). I must be grateful that he is not much of a screaming-fit-tantrum-thrower, but instead likes to assert his defiance rather diplomatically. I am also grateful that he uses his words for good most of the time. He has been praised by strangers everywhere we go for saying, "Please" and "Thank you" and "Good afternoon". He also learns the words to his favorite songs and sings them very well for his age.
We put a "Dress up" box in the toy room and Otto took full advantage of it. Where does he get the urge, I wonder? *cough, Papa *cough.
He created his own costume as a Super Raccoon Snowman on one of our walks. I couldn't be more proud.














I have been busy all month putting our house together as my vision dictates, and preparing my house to be a perfect place to host Story Time groups and art lessons. I organized my teaching materials in the office, got my books and bookcases up, and my art cabinet sorted. I hope it isn't all for nothing!














We didn't get to the pumpkin patch, but we DID enjoy being spectators at the annual Pumpkin Races at the lake! What a hoot! Watching grown men and woman get into giant pumpkins and paddle around the lake. It was a lot of fun to see.







We had a fantastic birthday/Halloween weekend. We celebrated "Daddy"'s birthday on Friday night, just us at home. Otto helped me bake a cake, and we gave Matt his birthday presents and cards that Otto helped pick out himself. Saturday, we spent the day with Matt's family dressed in costume and had home-made donuts at Grandma's. Matt has waited YEARS to participate in this age-old tradition!








Then, we put Otto to bed at Grandma and Grandpa Earl's and we headed to the Egyptian Theater in Ogden to participate in the annual showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show, complete with prop bags! If you aren't aware, it is one of the funnest nights EVER! My parent's work at the Ogden Eccles Conference Center and the Egyptian Theater so they help run the show. They get in costume and my Dad plays MC for the night. He invites guests in costume on stage and we vote on winners. He rides a  Harley across the stage! We do the Time Warp! Then, we watch the movie while throwing props and yelling out obscenities. . . I mean, comments at appropriate times. It is a blast! Chris and Jena Barber and my brother and sister-in-law joined us. My sister was a RHPS virgin, so it was fun to see what her reaction would be to all the madness.

Otto stayed with Nana and Papa and for Sunday night after Nana's birthday dinner. They brought him down Halloween night to join in for trick-or-treating and watching Nightmare Before Christmas on the projector as we do every year. My dad loved getting all the attention as the neighborhood shouted their approval of his Viking King costume. The neighbors were really into it! We had trick or treaters until 9pm and went through at least 7 bags of bulk candy. Some neighbors were giving out cotton candy!














Yes, it was a great month. I am glad we are finally able to kick-off our first Autumn in Utah and enjoy this beautiful scenery and weather. I have extreme homesickness for Arizona from time to time, and even teaching. I hope that working on my blog, my Facebook group and business page, offering art lessons and tutoring, and working towards our adoption certification here will keep me busy and let me follow my passions. In the mean time, I am so grateful to be Matt's wife, keeper of my home, and mom to a wonderful little boy.

September- Another MOVE, Last one.

Finally, an Autumn that looks like Autumn! These many years in Arizona have made us forget what having seasons is actually like. What a blessing to have Otto see the leaves start to change color.
We got invited to Mr. Nelson's Fall party to play with Xander and Jordis, get balloon animals, and a perfect Fall photo op.


Then, Otto and I headed off to Bear Lake for Labor Day with Nana and Papa. Otto helped Papa build a sandcastle, or "Twins Keep" of House Frey (Game of Thrones fans will know). It was chilly to get in the water, but perfect weather to sit by the water and enjoy the sunshine. The next day we rented a quadricycle to get shakes and shop. Little did we know that all the shops are closed for the end of the tourist season. Still, we got fresh air and exercise. We enjoyed the indoor pool and sand play at the volleyball court for the rest of our visit.

On our way home, we stopped at USU to my old stomping grounds to visit aunt Kathy and have lunch with Megan. Someday, we will make Otto into a true Aggie!

The next weekend was the event we've been waiting for, PEACH DAYS! We had to explain to Coltan that Peach Days in Brigham City is a little bit like Lil' Sebastian on Parks and Rec for us locals. It is just a small horse to anyone else. To us locals, it is famous! We love getting together to see the parade on Saturday (get there by Thursday morning or you'll never get a spot), ride the rides, see the booths, and see old friends we haven't seen in ages. My parents are clever to get a spot by the court house to set up base camp so we can rest and nap midday. We saw a few good friends from our past and see how their children have grown.

With our house in Arizona finally sold and closed, we could work toward closing on our new home in South Jordan. Two years ago, we visited my Uncle Clark and Aunt Becky as they held a baby shower for Otto. I told Matt then that if I ever moved back to Utah, I would ONLY do it if I lived in Daybreak community. I never actually believed it could be possible. With hard work, and some good luck, and it became possible. I am so ecstatic to find our dream home within our grasp. We closed on our home and got set to move in before the rest of our busy events this month.
This house is amazing, but has been well loved. It has a lot of little details that will require a lot of work to fix and improve. We also left a lot behind (see July post) and will need to work to get the new house furnished. We cleaned and bug sprayed prior to move-in day. We were lucky and grateful for help moving out of the apartment. My uncle Jay, my parents, Coltan, and their cars, trailers and trucks to get us moved.
After a weekend of hard work moving, we were invited to eat dinner with Clark, Becky, Katy, and aunt Julene. What a pleasant surprise to discover we live only a few blocks away! I have never lived that close to family before!



After moving in, it was like a starters pistol for all the shopping, drilling, and unpacking that needed to be done. We ordered a couch online, went to numerous stores, plenty of trips to the home improvement stores, and so much research to make decisions. Matt was busy doing yard work, mounting things, building furniture from IKEA, and measuring for future projects when he wasn't working.
It wasn't uncommon to be running errands all day and miss naptime. Sometimes we just didn't make it home in time to put him down before Otto would pass out in his car seat.









We still don't live too far from my cousin Lindsey. We had the pleasure of watching her daughter, Evelyn for a few hours at our new house. The basement is a great place to let two two-year-olds have a great time and not get into trouble. There is a small playground just behind our house that I took them to play.





The more I discover about our new house, the more I like. It is such a great community and our location is so much fun. Otto spent his first night away at Nana and Papa's house and we walked up the street, not even a block away, and had dinner at Porch restaurant. It was amazing! The next day I met my parents with Otto and Megan at a Vintage Market at the fairgrounds. I wanted to look for new furniture that would suite my vision for our new house. Nothing was quite right, but it was fun to look.
The next weekend we went to another Northern Utah Vintage Market in Logan. We found the BEST cabinet and bought it to take home. We spent the day in Logan with uncle Doug and aunt Kathy. We went to the Willow Park Zoo, had lunch, and visited our cousin Carrisa and her new baby, Macklyn.
Whew! What an amazing, busy month!




 In a visit to the doctor's, Otto practices his multi-tasking skills as he drives while holding his baby doll. What a great Daddy he will be!




 

August 2016- Apartment Living Again

Might I just say, I don't mind small spaces and I think our little home in Sandy, UT is working out quite well for the time being. However, the last time we lived in apartments, we didn't have children or a dog. It has proven to be a bit more difficult to constantly take the dog out on the leash and find ways to get out and exhaust all that toddler energy.
We have absolutely loved living across from the Jordan River Walkway and exploring the different paths to take North toward West Jordan, or South to South Jordan. We get a peek into lavish back yards we couldn't dream of ever having and watch new houses being built while getting to see construction equipment up close. You would think an excavator was a celebrity from his favorite show, to watch Otto get to see one up close. There is never a shortage of construction in Utah so no matter where we are walking, we are guaranteed to see one.
We usually walk 3-4 miles a few times a week on these walkways. We occasionally stop and play at the park and collect leaves, or watch the ducks in the river, see the horses in their pasture, watch the quail families run ahead of us, and have even seen deer in the meadow. I feel like I live the the move Bambi and often catch myself saying things to Otto that Bambi's mother would have said. We just need to find a stroller partner or group to join to make the experience that much more rewarding.

Since we celebrated Otto's birthday in Arizona in June, my parents wanted to do a special dinner for him to open his gifts from them. I thought it would be interesting to ask him what kind of cake he would like. He said, "Waffle, strawberry." No surprise, since waffles are his favorite breakfast. I found a strawberry roll and we bought strawberries and whip cream and added the toaster waffles. It wasn't a bad invention. He likes to experiment with his food, pizza dipped in his applesauce, perhaps he will be a chef!
Having an offer on our house in Arizona and looking for a house in Utah, we were in the middle of Escrow hell. I was constantly on the phone with realtors (two or three different ones), bank lenders, and home inspectors. After all the haggling and price changing, we came to terms we could all agree. Papers where signing and closing dates scheduled. I was so eager to get the whole done and over with. Luckily, everything went fairly smooth and we had a closing date for our new house in South Jordan, Utah. This meant having to break the lease with our apartment. They were so good to us, but I have been excited to unpack the rest of our stuff from storage and have our own place again.

Otto started his first dance class! I have been waiting for the day I could bring my own little one to his first activity. I used to run by the fields with little boys and girls playing soccer and sigh thinking of the day I could stand on the side lines and cheer for my own. Of course, when I was younger I missed my chance to take dance young enough to compete with all the other girls that already excelled. So, I am giving my boy the best head start. I figure, dance is a great beginner activity for any interest. He can learn about music and rhythm if he chooses to be a musician, and it is physical so it will help him with coordination for any sports.


 Also, his self confidence as he can be proud he is one of the few boys to join dance. Who knows, maybe he will be the broadway star that will thank his Mommy when he wins his Tony award.
Not to mention, he just loves it! Ms. Kathy is so fun with the little two-year-olds and teaching them to move to different songs with fun props and learning dances with repetition. I am grinning ear to ear watching him in class every week. I try to hang back and let him learn to watch and listen to his teacher.



My mom is absolutely loving having Otto close enough to spoil. She came down our way to take us to the aquarium nearby. We chased him all around the building as we looked at fish, sharks, octopus, otters (my favorite) and other water animals. He really had a fantastic time.
In addition to being closer to family, we have loved getting closer to new friends. Our friends, Bryce and Melanie that live next door to my parents have always been generous with hand-me-downs from their son, Xander. Now, Otto gets to learn from him about dinosaurs and Disney, and Indiana Jones. All the things I really loved as a kid. I think Xander might be my soul child as his imagination is so much like I was.




Otto has continued to grow and learn so fast, it never ceases to amaze me. He randomly picks up words and phrases and asks about memories I would have thought he forgot a long time ago. He can name almost all the shapes on his Tupperware shape ball. He knows numbers 1-10 and the words to a lot of his favorite songs. He loves to point out the temple when we drive by, although sometimes it is a church. When I told him so, he says, "It is a church temple." Sassypants.







Matt has continued to work very hard and getting settled at his new place. They already love him and can see what a hard worker he is. They rate the employees in the region, including Arizona, Utah, Washington, and Matt climbs the chart every month. He is great at customer service, efficiency, and quality. I know it is hard on him when he has to constantly be pestered at work with my phone calls and emails and texts asking him to sign this or that document for the sale and purchase of our homes. He takes it all in stride, it is a stressful time for all of us!
We took some time out to visit Park City with our friends (and family) the Barbers! It happened to be the Arts Festival too. It was a beautiful day to walk up and down the old town shops and have lunch together.

My favorite event this month is the Utah Ren Faire! I have always tried to go in Arizona but we never had costumes. Leave it to the Reeder family, and we will make it happen. My dad has always found a reason to get dressed up in his best for any occasion. This time, the whole family got to go! Our only regret was that Coltan was out of town and we sorely missed him. He would have loved to dress up with us. I even talked Matt into dressing up in some of the item my dad had brought. Megan and I borrowed dresses from Melanie (BEHS drama teacher), and we bought Otto a little outfit when we got there. It was a bit hot, but worth it! I had the best time walking around and watching the events, and shopping at the booths. Otto got everyone's attention as he played the little prince and battled the fairy bubbles with his sword1! I will definitely make it a yearly event.








 

July 2016- Goodbye Arizona

The decision to leave Arizona was long debated and reconsidered until we finally concluded that the benefits would outweigh the risks. We had a lot of reservations about returning and wondering if we would fit in in Utah. It is impossible to say goodbye to Arizona without promising to visit because we leave behind our tribes, some of our new family, and many friends.
We were invited to join our All Aboard family at Rhonda's house for a quick swim get-together and
some sparklers for the 4th of July. Otto was not thrilled. He did not like the fireworks that neighbors were lighting off and talked about them for many weeks afterward.
We picked July 9th as our official moving date. The last weeks of packing were very difficult while we still had appointments to show the house and needed to prepared to pop in and out all the time. Otto and I enjoyed many little day dates and trips to the mall, coffee shops, and  bookstores in the middle of packing boxes. Our moving date loomed closer and yet we still didn't have an offer on the house.
One lovely day we were offered to join our friends, the Crisps, to a movie. Otto had never been to a movie theater before so his first movie, The Secret Life of Pets was a great first attempt. He actually stayed and watched the whole movie! He seemed to comprehend the plot well enough as he leaned over to comment things like, "Kitty!" and "They are in the water!". Luckily, a movie theater full of other kids means that no one really minds his inability to whisper. He loved spending time with this friends Connor and Anna one more time before we left. We will miss them so much.
I had no choice but to arrange an apartment sight unseen in Layton, UT. The price was reasonable, which is important when facing the dilemma of paying rent in addition to mortgage for an undetermined amount of time. We arranged for my sister, Megan, and her new husband Coltan to fly down and help us pack the truck. They were gracious enough to offer to help drive back to Utah. We rented a 15ft truck. It was enough to hold 1/2 of our belongings. This meant that we had a massive give-away-a-thon where many members of our church and friends could come and take the extra items. It was a crazy, hot, frantic, emotional, and exhausting 2 days as we packed the truck and slept on the air mattress. Otto was such a trooper. He politely played with toys or watched Cars on the tablet while we were busy.
Off we went!
We traveled over two days in a convoy of 3 vehicles. Coltan drove Matt's truck, Matt in the moving truck, and Megan and I lead the pack in my car with Otto and the 3 furry babies riding along. It actually went very smoothly, aside from the 2 or 3 times Megan bumped the gear shift into neutral and I though the car was breaking down. We stayed in 2 rooms at the Holiday Inn in Henderson, NV. Then, we traveled to our parent's home in Brigham City. We knew our apartment was going to be small so we unloaded 1/2 of what was left of our belongings in Mike and Becky's garage for storage and stayed the night.
The next day, we were scheduled to go to our new apartment in Layton and sign the lease and move in. They were installing new carpet so we had to wait until they were done. Coltan, my parents, Matt and I were there with the truck and ready to unload. First, we had to walk through the apartment and document any broken or undesirable effects. Long story short, it was so awful that we ran out of room on the sheet. As risky as it was to arrange an apartment from out of state, it was necessary to have a place secured for Matt to start work the next day. We had no choice but to deny the lease and take the truck back to the Earl's and unload the rest of our things.
We spent the next week living in my parents house out of suitcases as we looked for another apartment. It was stressful and difficult but I am grateful that Service King was so understanding to let Matt have a few extra days to get settled before starting work in Midvale. We also took a few days to relax together as a family and try to make the most of our time spent together. We enjoyed lunch at the Crepery in Logan with my cousin, Brett.
We also took Otto's baby for walks around Perry. 
We found reasonable apartments (although everything is almost double in rent what our mortgage payment in Arizona) in Sandy. With help from cousins, Lindsey and Brandon, and my dad, we were able to get moved in that weekend.
It is nice to finally have a place to call home, even if it is temporary while we wait to sell our house. Otto could tell very early when we were pulling up to our apartments because he kept saying, "New house!". He loves spending time running around in the grass and going down the slide at the playground.

 To celebrate our new home and explore the new area we live, we treated ourselves to some ice cream.

 We are lucky enough to live close by one of my favorite stores IKEA, which comes in handy when you move into a new place. Jena and Jordis came to visit and explore with us. Otto loves Jordis so much, he could not stop asking about her. She is so great to play and read with him.

We were finally in Utah to celebrate Pioneer Days with family! The Rasmussen crew was in Salt Lake and we were close enough to meet them for dinner, and breakfast, and a lovely day at the Church History Museum at Temple Square. It is such a delightful difference to be able to spend time outside and not feel as though we are dying of heat!
By the end of July, we finally had an offer on our Arizona house. Whew! Although we weren't scheduled to close until Sept 5th, it is such a relief to know our prayers are answered.
Matt is still adjusting to be the "New Guy" at work. As soon as he is comfortable though, I know he is going to know their socks off! They already love him. They have already got him mentoring an intern!  . .again. He always has an intern. That's how you know you are great at your job. I like to say Matt is a car Sherlock Holmes. He can look at any car and tell you a million things about it and its history.
Meanwhile, I have been keeping busy trying to arrange the sale of our house and working with realtors here in Utah with finding a new house. I have been working toward getting my business page and facebook group up and running. We take long walks a few times a week on the Jordan River trail which happens to run next to our apartment and gives me much needed exercise and sunshine.
Otto has been taking all the changes with a fantastic stride. He talks so well and so clear, we get comments everywhere we go about his unique conversational abilities for his age. I know he is very smart. He can count up to 12 on his own and recognizes numbers 1-10. He recognizes many letters, although we don't work on these skills specifically. He just loves to read books! Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one of his favorites and he has picked up the letters and alphabet very quickly. It amazes me the things his little brain remembers and retains. He loves to dance and sing and his favorite song is "Everything at Once." I will play it for a reward if he picks up his toys. For play, he loves to "color" which means draw on paper, and his toy trucks are his favorite to bring everywhere. He points out different cars and trucks everywhere he goes (very impressive that he knows so many): excavator, cement mixer, crane truck, fire truck, ambulance, police car, mail truck, dump truck, car transporter, tow truck, etc, etc, etc. . .

We are lucky enough to live close to my cousin Lindsey. Her daughter, Evelyn is the same age as Otto (within a few weeks of each other) and they get along like peas and carrots. Evelyn came to visit us one night to play so her Mom and Dad could have a date night. Swapping date nights is going to save our life!

We love being close to Nana and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa. He asks to go to their house every time he gets in the car. Although, it doesn't mean he has forgotten his Arizona beginnings. Randomly, he will ask me about "Shannon and Connor? They are far away." he will say. The other day at breakfast he said, "Sonia and Brenda". It made my heart hurt for my All Aboard family that we will miss so much.
I once heard that being a stay-at-home mom is the loneliest kind of lonely because you are never actually alone. I love spending my days with my adorable little red-head and I hope we make new friends as we work to get settled here in Utah.