Cruising with Mom, Dad, & DeAnne

August 24, 2013

I had booked a cruise with my parents and sister even before we thought we were moving to Guam. When I booked I was under the (false) assumption that we would be Biloxi residents for a long time coming! When the time came it was not really a good time for me to leave our little family, but I think it was a really good thing for my mental health! It was so nice to get away for a few days and not have to think about losing Guam or moving my family to Europe! Dustin did a great job at home and I had a great time cruising! 

Henry's a Boy Scout!

August 21, 2013

Henry officially became a Boy Scout after he received his Arrow of Light and participated in the Crossing Over Ceremony with his Pack. Way to Go, Henry!

Talk About a Shock!

Once we arrived home from our bog cross-country road trip we were hoping we had just three weeks until we left for Guam. We weren't going to put the kiddos into school because school on Guam didn't start until the very end of August and, if all went well, they'd only miss a few days. (School in MS started while we were still in UT). We were still waiting on airline tickets when my parents arrived on August 19th. I was getting a little aggravated because we had plans to make and appointment for Missy to take care of and we still didn't have a definite departure date. Our stuff had left for Guam on July 31st and now it was just waiting and more waiting. On Tuesday, August 20th my mom made a comment like, "What if your orders get cancelled?" I said something like, "You hear about that happening, but it won't happen to us. We're too close to departure. Our stuff is on it's way there already." Well, I should have kept quiet. The next day I was at the cash register at the commissary when Dustin called to say Guam was no longer happening. It was just out. We could choose to take a diversion to one of three bases in Europe or claim a hardship and go who-knows-where! I started crying in line at the commissary! So my mom and I left the Commissary and drove the three blocks to Dustin's office. I came in pretty upset, but no longer in tears. His cube mate, who thought he was being funny then told me, "And your stuff landed on Guam today!" I told him I didn't need to know that! So at that point all we knew was that Guam was out and that we were choosing to take the diversion. Our choices were Ramstein, Garmisch, or Aviano. All really great bases, but none of them a beautiful island in the Pacific!! I was really disappointed. Finally, on Thursday the 22nd we found out we were headed to Aviano Air Base Italy the first week of October!! It's a  treasure of an assignment, but one I would take over a month to really grasp! So now, with a cruise on Saturday, I spent all day Friday getting the kids into Biloxi city schools. We also had to extend our lease for another month, and buy lots and lots of fall/winter clothes since I had spent 6 months buying swimsuits, short, and sandals!!

Heading Back to Mississippi

After Lagoon it was time to be heading back. I was so grateful Dustin had flown out to help me drive home. I was not looking forward to that long drive from Salt Lake City to Biloxi on my own. On the way home we stopped in Kansas to spend some time with Jeremy and Tanis. We just love them. 

As soon as I find a missing SD card, I will add photos of all the fun we had!! :) 

Lagoon!

August 7, 2013

After Kelsey's Emergency Room visit she recovered quite quickly. They sent us home with a prescription for an inhaler and she did need it once later in the day, but was otherwise a-ok! We went ahead with our plans of a family day at Lagoon. The girls and I had never been there, but the boys had been once before when Jenna was a baby. It was a super fun day. We rode as many rides as we could. We took a little dip in the absolutely freezing water park. My goodness, I couldn't believe how cold it was! Dustin, Shannon, and Pamela even rode the crazy flying contraption. I chose to stay safely on the ground for that one! It was a super day! 

On the road again...to Utah

On August 6th, we left Utah and headed down to Aunt Linda's with Grandma Pamela, Tara, Aunt Rosalie, Abbey, and Lilly. What a crew! My girls got to ride with Tara and they were so excited. We had a lovely picnic on the way and made it to SLC at around 4pm. Tara drove straight to Linda's while Pamela, Rosalie, the boys, and I stopped at Costco. We pulled into Linda's about an hour and a half after Tara. When I walked in the door Shannon and Tara both told me I had a sick baby. Sure enough Kelsey was sick. She was sickly looking, a little feverish, and breathing a little funny. When we had left Idaho she'd had a little cold and I hadn't thought much of it, but this was much worse. Poor thing. Dustin was flying in late that night and Tara and I went to pick him up. When we all got back Kelsey seemed worse and I didn't like how she was breathing. We put her in our bed, but I couldn't sleep. Finally I woke Tara and asked to use the internet on her phone. I googled something like "breathing trouble in toddlers". I found a youtube video showing three signs of respiratory distress. If your child had ANY of these symptoms you were to head to the hospital immediately. She had ALL THREE! I woke Dustin and we rushed her to the hospital which was thankfully just a few blocks away. They took one look at her and brought her back in immediately while I filled out all the paperwork. She was in respiratory distress. After chest x-rays, and breathing treatments, and oxygen she started to feel better. The doctor said if we had waited any longer they would have had to intubate her. We were there into the morning. The doctor told us that SLC is terrible for people with breathing problems to do an inversion layer in the atmosphere. Her cold was just a cold in Idaho, but she couldn't breathe when she arrived in SLC. So we got an inhaler for while were in SLC and they let us go. Good Grief this kids scares us ALL THE TIME!!! All was well when we left Utah. You can definitely keep that one off the list of places I would like to live!!

Photos at Grandma's

August 4 & 5, 2013

These are the dresses Aunt Mary made for the girls. They just love them! I owed Grandma Pamela some new photos so we spent some time in the yard taking a few for her. We were really happy with the results. 

Dinner at Mary's

Sunday, August 3, 2013

I guess I was having a good time because I only took one photo at Aunt Mary's house! She had us and the Foster's over for Mexican food and boy was it yummy! She also gave the girls some beautiful Spring dresses. Aunt Mary is awesome! I love this photo of Aunt Rosalie, Abbey, and Kelsey. They all sure had a lot of fun with those boxing gloves! This photo reminds me to never buy them for my kids!!! :) 

Eagle Island Family Get-Together

August 2, 2013

Eagle Island, Idaho

Since our time was so limited and we wanted to see as many people as we could, Tara and Pamela helped plan a great day at the lake. We invited all the Mundells. It was a perfect day! There were a million kids and they were in the water all day long!! They had fun playing on the floating booms, digging in the mud, and riding around in Pamela's blow up boat. We LOVE getting together with cousins!