We moved into a furnished house in Sierra Vista to have the very best of neighbors. (I pray so hard for good neighbors. We've been so blessed.) Although I have to admit I was a bit bitter (shocker) that my Ya-Ya moved away merely hours before I arrived in town. Most likely with all of her panties too. Brenner started Third Grade the very next morning and had a wonderful teacher. He excelled and was loving the Tea Kwon Do, Choir, Scouting, & Century 21 Math Classes he took. I think his favorite part was that we were a straight shot to the school. He walked or rode his bike by himself almost everyday. Loved the Independence and freedom it gave him. 3 minutes is his record from door to bike lock to back yard. He even created a landing strip on the front lawn to slow his mach 5 speed down.
Beckett was officially diagnosed with Autism weeks before we left Hawaii and I worked furiously to get things rolling so we could transfer instead of start all over in AZ. He had teachers come to the house by the dozens. Well at least dozens of times. This is where we got our sweet little Beckett back. Looking in his eyes he was getting farther and farther away from us and more and more angry and hurtful to himself. Throughout all this he is coming through the window by leaps and bounds. Beckett has words and understanding of the words to communicate when upset and to share. He's also getting better with his transitions and touching. My favorite thing is the touching. He gives hugs and lets you hug him. My heart broke the first time he really hugged and looked at you and you could see his sweet soul inside again. He made his first best friend here too. Kaydence would wait so very impatiently for his teachers to leave the house so she could come get her Beckett to play. He would rush over to find his Kaydence. This was big because she would touch him and take him places. He let her and learned so much from this sweet little angel that heaven sent to help him.
Bronsen really grew up in this home. He was toddling around on his own but for speed he still chose to crawl. Walking and learning to hold his own against his brothers he would often taunt them. I would hear "No no baby." all too often from Beckett as Bronsen would be chasing him with a feather. It really freaked Beckett out. Darn peacocks. We have a few words but mainly he is still our little bear. Growling in so many different ways to communicate. He also would narrate is adventures of 4x4 crawling over rocks, cacti, streets, and brothers with his growls. Moon sand and rotten pears from the back yard are still a favorite but he really learned to stuff and run. Shove it in your mouth and hurry away.
I've learned so much living in AZ. I've had a great time learning how to help teach each of my children. The main thing I've gained is the knowledge that I can handle it all. I can handle all the kids and the Army and the schools. I learned how to keep the balance between the house, the kids, the learning, and life. This is a very overwhelming thing and I'm still needing to be able to go through things. I've forged knowledge and relationships with each of my boys in this home and learned to be so grateful for it. We attended a Spanish speaking branch and it was amazing. Here we found an old high school pal of mine and met his beautiful family. We also reconnected with Brenner's first little friend. The Nemeth's were a great family to get to know again. I will always love and miss having Keri to just go across the street at literally anytime of the day to just hang out or hide from the world.
Brian did great at balancing family and work. He was able to study late into the night and leave only hours after he fell asleep. Many in these courses are single soldiers and don't have the extra demand of family life and Brian hates not giving his boys all his attention when he's around. It was tough to balance but I think he did it great. There was a very short adjustment period for the family. We truly felt blessed and enjoyed being together.
On the mainland we sure did put miles on ACE (our Honda Pilot). We would travel all over with our panties in tow. We visited Family twice in Alb, NM, Tombstone, Lego Land, Sea World, Disney Land, and back and forth from the base and church. We also stayed sick for soooo many weeks too. Right before leaving I flew to Colorado Springs to look and buy a house. 30 minutes on the ground and I was hit at a stop light and taken to the ER. I was only there for 30 hours and so many were taken up by the accident and then woke to 4 inches of snow and so many cancelled house viewing appointments. Then back the AZ. The cold was so tough to deal with. Man we are going to freeze. My poor baby keikis. Then leaving was sooo funny. When we should have been packing we were across the street hanging out till all hours of the night with Camp Cardone. I think we packed until 3 AM and then left around 12 instead of 10. Panties in boxes and in a trailer and off we go trudging through the west.
We unpacked the panties a little up in Twin Falls, ID for about two weeks to visit family. It was amazing to finally meet my little niece Ella and visit the temple and see my youngest brother in his element all grown and taking on the world. But the best thing was when Brenner chose to be baptized by his father. We loved seeing him grow and learn of our Savior and want to take upon him his name to stand as a witness and act in his name to help and serve others. We are blessed to be from the same town so it was great to keep the panties in one place and go back and forth between houses. The Haralsons, the Kempers, Brother-In-Law Kemper. We even got a chance to buy panties and teach the boys what coats were. And soon enough it was time to go find us a house and live in a hotel for a couple months. lol.
Leaving ID we lead the way for a huge storm but the boys were great troopers and the DVD players were the best thing invented ever. So glad they are carried at Wal*Mart. I think we all have our favorites. As we were traveling here I recieved an email from friends we knew in NY to update their address for their friends. I wrote back to say we'll see you there on Monday. It has been great having friends you trust with your kids instantly. We have also been blessed to have found an extended stay hotel that we think used to be apts. We have a kitchen/dining room/living room combo, two bedrooms, bathroom, and hall closet/Bronsen's room combo to wait out the time. We've scoured the area and have found the house we want. But before we move in their we'll pack up our panties again (today actually) to move into our friends' house while they're away on Christmas break. Blessings again to not have to do Christmas in a hotel. The boys will love having a tree and beds and stairs and toys. We are hopeful that by Christmas we'll know if the house is really ours or not so we might only have two more times to pack up our panties and move again.
Our little family is happy and growing and glad that we've got Brian until at least spring time. Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf. We feel it and enjoy all your friendships.
