The Young Family: We Survived 2010!

I'm pretty sure we all need shirts made up that say that exact phrase! WOW!!! What a year. Seriously DON'T want to repeat that again!!! We survived more than one LIFE ALTERING change in the year 2010. Birth of a baby, loss of jobs, gaining new jobs, (trying to) sale a home, buying another home-total nightmare, and moving...not to mention living apart for 1/2 the year. BUT.....we overcame all obstacles and here we are to tell the story!

So much to tell and so many pictures so if you have a few minutes you can enjoy!

Let's start with the move which was INSANE! Packing up a house by myself (mostly), cleaning, arranging for everything, moving day came and went and was just an absolute blur...mostly never knew where the camera was so I have no "pictures to tell the story"! It was definately a wintery day when it came time to leave. After almost 2 days of moving things, loading, unloading, and then unpacking, it was time to begin sorting out life. Thanks so much to my parents and sister Heather for taking the kids! HUGE HUGE help! There is no way you can unpack a house with a baby crawling all over and an overexcited 4 year old wanting to help.
The most important thing was first getting a Christmas tree up so Reagan could have some sense of "normalcy". She went several months with nothing at home because everything was packed, and well, because it was a hassle to tell you the truth! I was able to unpack a lot of stuff the days I didn't have the kids, got some Christmas decor up and the tree ready. Reagan was beyond excited to be in her new house with her PINKALICIOUS bedroom.
I should note that the day we arrived and unloaded the truck, our most kind neighbor Mike (yep, and his wife is Heidi and the girl across the street is Amber, and the other neighbor's name is Michelle....all my siblings name...weird or what!) came to help us unpack and soon, his 4 kids were over here playing with Reagan. She was in heaven!
The house is great although it's adjusting to layouts, storage, etc, and we have met a few neighbors. We are told there is a "brat pack" of girls on this street so we will be excited to meet the rest this summer....if it ever gets to be.....Reagan was invited to a birthday party the first week and we went to dinner with our neighbors on the right. Really fun family.
December itself was crazy as well. Mike was obviously very busy and committed to the store. We didn't see him much but we try to go to the store (more often than not) to see him. The kids are SO MUCH HAPPIER and absolutely adore him of course so it's been healing for them to be around him. The store did very well for the month and it's really fun to see all the "friends" and "usual" customers that know all about our family and situation already. Mike is definately likable and knows what he is doing and we thank the loyals who are supporting us.
The week of Christmas, Heidi came and stayed for a few days so I could help out at the store as well. The kids (and us of course) enjoyed her stay. She does not normally change poopy diapers so hats off to her for having to change NUMEROUS ones!

Christmas Eve and Christmas morning was just us 4. Different, quiet, but calm, peaceful, and happy. Reagan had fun making reindeer food and Mike had fun tramping around in the umpteen below weather making tracks and eating the food! After presents and breakfast, we decided to venture home for the day and it was fun to see everyone for a bit other than catching a yucky bug for the week.
New Year's was spent with the Owings whom Mike lived with all those months!! They have 2 little girls age 4 and 2 so they had a fun time playing with Reagan and we had a nice, relaxing dinner and visit.

So....here it is January already. It's crazy to think all those months that we spent apart and all the stress that we have underwent the past several months. Here's to a new year with less stress and hopefully lots of fun-filled family time.
I know I will grow to like it (maybe love it??) here. It's definately a huge difference. Of course we knew it was cold but it is insanely cold and had no idea. You honestly cannot or do not want to take a baby out in the weather. I am pretty sure it never got out of the low teens and was 5 or 6 degrees DURING THE DAY this past week and we were told that was mild weather!! Even when you bundle the kids up you still feel like they are freezing to death. Nobody on our street leaves their houses! There is not much to do in the way of entertaining the kids so we have spent many hours doing puzzles, drawing, reading, coloring, FINALLY got the TV going so yes, watching movies. Reagan will start preschool this week and she is very excited to be doing that. I can't decide if we will do 3 or 4 days but she will go 9-1 on those days. I am very excited about the place as they do lots of different things daily including learning musical things, drama/theatre, science, etc. Her teacher is a retired teacher probably in her 50's and seemed awesome. For now, I will help at the store a little on those days and hope to get lots of sewing, decorating, and scrapbooking done....that's a big "hope" as Kade is definately a boy on the GO!

So here's to hoping you had a wonderful holiday season. Through all of this, it has made us realize how special the gift of family is. How much we take for granted that we shouldn't and how very very lucky we are for such caring parents and siblings and friends. There are times the past several months that I am pretty sure without good friends, parents, and family in general, that I wouldn't have made it emotionally. Such a hard time but definately a learning experience in so many ways. We dearly miss our Utah friends and family and hope you know that you are always welcome in our home because you are always in our hearts. We look forward do seeing more Idaho family and friends as well! Enjoy the numerous pictures!
He's sweet...the first few weeks we didn't have a table so everyone ate...at the counter minus Kade..lovin him some sugar cookies