15

How is my baby girl 15? I don't know where the time has gone. Here birthday was on a Friday, which was also a football game. That means she has to leave for school at 6:40 for an early morning pep rally, and she gets home after the game at about 10:30. It's about a 16 hour day. Tiring for sure!

We started celebrating a few days before with her favorite dinner of roast, carrots and mashed potatoes. The next night, I made her a pumpkin roll and we sung happy birthday.

She used to always give her Dad big kisses on her birthday. Now, he settles for this. Ugh, teenagers!

She was spoiled with lots of cards and money!  Thank you to everyone for making her special.

Grammie and Grampie also took her to Olive Garden for lunch!

The football game was fun! Well, the don't look like they are having fun, but they were!

Then, she went shopping down in Phoenix with her friends for their annual birthday trip.

They went to Dave & Busters too and played video games.

The got Boba teas.

 Had lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

 And spent way too much money shopping!

I think she had a great birthday. Teenage girls are not easy to navigate, but she's a great young lady with a whole life ahead of her. We are thankful to help her any way we can.

Moving Day!

Moving day finally came on August 19th! Geez, we got yanked around with our mortgage people and it was so hoops, but we finally closed!

We got a Uhaul and loaded everything up. The kids were awesome and helped as much as they could with all the heavy lifting. Our friend Ryan also helped, which was so nice on some of the heavy pieces.

It's nice the new house is abut 7 minutes away and we got everything unloaded. David and I decided to load it up again and make a second and last trip that night. It took about 6 hours, but we got everything to the new house.

The next day, David took off work, and helped them get everything set up.

The blind guy came that day, and Gwynne had everything scheduled to be turned on. It was a super busy few days.

Enrique's room is really nice with a TV and recliner.

Gwynnes room and she has a nice master bath.

I'll have to take some pictures next time I'm there, as it looks way more homey now. David got some pictures hung up and they are getting a rug for the living room this week. They just need a loveseat and they'll be all set!

We are so glad they are here and close to us, and just in time since hurricane Dorian was on it's way. It was nice not to have to worry about them and dealing with that!

A New Career

I've worked since I was 13 with a 5 year gap to have kids. Then, I started a part time job working from home, which has been a huge blessing. But, it's really only 15-20 hours a week, and sometimes I just felt like I could be doing more and learning more.

When we decided to buy this house for Gwynne and Enrique to rent from us, we knew it would make a huge dent in on our savings. We wanted to put down 20%, so that we didn't have to pay the mortgage interest. Plus, blinds, landscaping, ceiling fans, upgrading tile, etc.When I looked at where we were, I didn't like it. We don't do debt. We don't have a mortgage, car payments or credit card debt, and that's how we like it.

So, I thought I should get a second part time job. I thought about where I wanted to work and know I probably have about 20 years left of working, and I decided I wanted to work at our grocery store. I'm always there. I love the environment and the fast pace. So, I applied and I waited and waited. They finally called and had an opening in the bakery. Ok. I figure I would take anything, get my foot in the door. During my interview, she said that she thought I'd be best for Starbucks.

I didn't even realize that the Starbucks employees were employeed by the grocery store, but that's how it works. So, I agreed.  I had to go to Fry's (which is AZ version of Kroger) training for several days. Then, I had to do Starbucks training.  This was taken before one of the trainings for Fry's.

And Starbucks is so hard. There are tons of drinks and recipes and codes to write on the cups. It just boggles the mind. I've worked about 25 hours this week and I still feel pretty clueless. But, I know that's how it is for everyone in the beginning. I'll get it eventually.

My schedule is all over the place and they let people pick shifts based on seniority, which means I'm last. I'll probably be evenings and weekends for awhile. Luckily, the grocery store is only open 5AM to 8PM. So, it's not too bad. But, I know things will drastically change around our house.

It's so nice that we have a little village we can count on. Now, we also have Gwynne who can get a kid from an after school activity if needed. It really does take a village!

I've been having fun though working and it's nice to get out of the house and off my ass!  Seriously, I'm so sick of sitting down and working, which is great because you barely get a 15 minute break at Starbucks. So, here's to a new chapter of learning and a new career. Who knows where I'll go in the next 20 years?

Moving Weekend, Or Not....

This weekend we were supposed to be moving Gwynne and Enrique into their new home. BUT....
these things never work out the way we think.

So, they moved in with us on July 30th. The listed their home in Florida a few days later, and they had a full cash offer in a matter of days. They just closed on their home yesterday!  So, everything was going along smoothly.

We were supposed to close on their new house today. But, the builder was delayed in getting it done. That's the living room below and they messed up on the tile. First, they put in gray! Um, nope. So, they ripped it all out and put in brown. But, we paid for it to be in all the hallways or living room. And it wasn't done properly. So, they had to come back out and get it done.

Basically, it pushed the completion of the house to the day before we were supposed to close. But, our lender needs an appraiser to go out and say the house is complete and do a report, which takes 3-5 days. So, now we hope to close sometime around the 23rd of August.

The house is done now, but I didn't take any pictures the other day. Here's the living room with the extra tile finally done right.

Here's the kitchen.

And the nice carpet in the bedroom.

It all looks so nice and we'll post more pictures when we get them moved in.

The not so great news is Alisa already had plane tickets for her and Greg and Rachel to fly out here for the weekend to help move and Rachel is staying all week. She wanted to help Grammie get things unpacked, but now there isn't a house to start unpacking.

So, we are left waiting. But, we'll still have fun seeing everyone this weekend and spending the week with Rachel. It is what it is and sometimes these things don't go quite as planned.

Stay tuned for next weekend....

Ten

Noah turned 10!  I can hardly believe it. He's such a spunky kid, full of love and silliness.

He was spoiled with lots of cards and gifts. Thank you everyone!  You can tell from the smile that he enjoyed all of it.

He also got to have his Grammie and Grampie here for the first time ever on his birthday.

Originally, we were going to have a party for him. We have never done a big party. So, I told him we could rent the gymnastics place and it's him and his friends for 2 hours of fun!  He said ok. Then, he said he wanted an Xbox One. I told him that we can't spend $200 on a party and $200 on an xbox one. So, he said, "forget the party!"  So, he got an Xbox One and he was obviously extremely happy with that decision.

He doesn't like cake, so I baked him cookies. And Grammie and Grampie treated us to Texas Roadhouse which is Noah's favorite place to eat.

I'm not sure what this kid could possibly have left to wish for as I think all his dreams came true when he opened the Xbox One, but whatever he wishes for, I hope it comes true for this sweet boy.

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school

Ben couldn't believe summer went by so quickly.

He's in the 8th grade.

He had to wear that hideous orange Student Council shirt so kids who needed help
could quickly identify that he could help.

Emily is in 10th grade.
She wasn't thrilled about school starting.
But, she has bangs now and that's like a super cool.

Ben is officially way taller than Emily now.

Noah wasn't in the above picture because his school starts later, so he wasn't ready.

He started 5th grade.

He was super excited.
His math teacher is his favorite.
She's young and blonde, that might be why.

They all had a great first day, and I think this will be a wonderful year for all of them.

And More Idaho...

I always try to stay up to date on blogging when we are on vacation. Yes, it's sometimes a pain, but I know by the time I get home, I'll forget so much stuff. I'm always so thankful that I did it when I look back.

I typically have phone pics and camera pics, and I don't bother with our water camera. When we get home, and I get everything caught up and life is back to normal, I just forget to even look at it. I just remembered and I have a few lovely ones from Idaho. I didn't even take it out in Canada since we didn't go in the water since it was wet and cooler.

This is typically my view for half the day in Idaho. The scenery is gorgeous and so is the man on the dock.

 The kids lounge around.

 Noah got so good at the stand up paddleboard. He's never really tried it. He was all over the place.

 He got so good that the other kids made him pull them around the lake.

 This is Ben driving with David on back, and Em on the other jet ski. I was happy to keep floating in my raft with Suzy.

Then, we were hanging out and Noah may or may have not peed on David right after this picture. 

This ladder ball game is HARD. I thought it would be way easier. But, it's tough. I watched Ben and my Dad play and it took Ben probably 20 tries before he made one. Then, I tried it and I was worse. It's not as easy as it looks.

 Then, my Dad went for a kayak ride and Noah wanted to join him on the paddle board. I thought this won't last long. I figured my Dad would rig up some towing device and pull Noah home.

But, nope. They came paddling home about 45 minutes later. They went over a mile. Noah is a tough cookie.

Ok, that's all for Idaho 2019. Until next year...