o what a year (part 4-final installment)

o what a year...we had moved back into our house in April, had lots of help unpacking and some great meals brought in from friends and we settled back into a reality that we hadn't experienced for awhile. It was great and I felt extremely blessed and fulfilled, feeling like our family, through all of it's trials were feeling at peace and everything was right with the world again. I could finally get into expectant baby mode, which means trying to come to terms that a baby was on it's way.  I was still shocked and unprepared, I felt old and out of touch with new, young mothers, but in a way I felt like it would all come rushing back to me, I knew in my heart that I would enjoy having a baby again.  She came a little early, waters broke while I was cleaning the toilet (how convenient) contractions hadn't started so i drove myself to the hospital. Then just a few hours later, right after receiving my pain relief and helping Mr. Jewels to not faint (he's not a fan of needles) she was born.  It was an experience I had never felt before with my others, not that I didn't enjoy birthing my others, but this one, because maybe she was unexpected, truly felt like a gift from God.  She is. If babies all came the way she did, were as cute as she is and so so perfect as she is I would have 20 more. I never wanted her to leave my side, I waited anxiously for the nurses to return her to me every time they took her for a test or what not. I didn't mind being dead tired or that my hair, as greasy and gross as it may be was sticking to my face and out of place, I didn't want to miss a single moment with this little one. I still feel this way. I do get in a shower every once in awhile and I do love sleep and get a few more hours in every night than when she was first born.  Every day is filled with snuggles and smiles and laughter, feedings and diaper changes and playing and learning, and the best part is that the older kids love her just as much as I do.

o what a year, part 3 (almost done)

o what a year part 3...at the end of March 2014 Mr. Jewels, after he came home from work, took me aside out of the hearing distance from the kids and told me he got a job. I of course was like, what? I know you have a job, what are you talking about? The company he had worked for before, the same one that he was laid off from offered him a job.  We were moving, again, back home. I was pretty excited. It was fun telling the kids as we scrunched ourselves around our tiny dinner table.  They couldn't believe it either.  We would be moving in the next couple of weeks. It really is an amazing story which will be written in it's entirety in a journal someday.

Twice weekly, sometimes three times walks around the neighborhood with church ladies was something I began to enjoy.  We would see these little bunnies a lot in the hills.  I would definitely miss our conversations and the beautiful scenery. I would not miss the steep hills that we climbed.

 I bought this desk at a thrift store in Santa Cruz before Mr. Jewels spilled the beans about his new job.  He didn't tell me anything about anything until everything was final and in writing. He even let me buy this thing knowing full well we didn't need it.  I spent the next Monday cleaning it and painting it with leftover paint that I found in the garage.  That night he told me that he got a job back home. Well that was a day that was completed wasted on a project. But we are using that desk now, so I'm glad I spent that day painting it.

 The ducks enjoyed the pool more often than we did. We did get in the pool on the last day we were there. The last of our things were packed away in the truck, our car had been put on another moving truck, the house was cleaned and we had some time to spare before we had to be to the hotel and wait for our flight the next day.

This was written into the concrete next to the pool. We looked him up and sure enough he is a real person.  He is a boxer living in Gilroy. Still not sure what 8603 means.

I had even planted some spinach and lettuce that had not fully matured before we got to enjoy it.

We said our goodbyes to our new friends and neighbors and set off on a plane back home to Ogden.  We surprised everyone at church when we showed up and told them we had moved back, it was a great day.

We received some unexpected snow in April. We thought we had skipped all of winter, think again.

Another pregnancy picture, I believe this is 38 weeks.

o what a year, part 2

As we were exploring our new area in which we were living we came across Emeline Ave in Santa Cruz, we just had to stop and take a picture.

 This is the home we rented on a month to month lease at $2400.00 per month! 3 Bed 2 Bath, it did have a swimming pool in the backyard, a nice one too and a bonus room off the kitchen. The yard work was very minimal, Jonathan didn't mind at all when we asked him to mow the lawn. The cost of living really is ridiculous I even found the thrift stores overpriced.  The locals would always say "you pay for the great weather".

 Limited space in the bedrooms meant we had to take full advantage of any wall space there was so we made this little hanging hamper for Emeline to use.

 The windiest road I have ever been on, Hecker Pass. We take this road to get over to the ocean. Lots and lots of trees and vineyards along the route. It was all very pretty and frightening at the same time.

 I finally came to terms with our surprise baby on the way so I started to do some knitting for the wee little one.

 This is the elementary school that Emeline and Sam attended. We showed up on this day wondering if we were late since we didn't see any of the kids lining up outside.  We realized later that the rain prevents them from being outside.  They all have to go to the cafeteria when the weather is bad outside. It had been raining earlier that morning but by the time we left for school it had long since stopped. We found this to be so funny, scared of a little rain.

 This is what it normally looks like before school. Not a drop in the sky today.  This is the area for just the fifth graders. This school was very much packed to the brim and then some.

 Another pregnancy picture. I found a really great doctor and nurse. There really aren't a whole lot of women having babies in California and if they do they usually stop after having one or two. I really received a lot of surprised looks when I would mention that this is number 4.

The kids had a whole week off for spring break so I drove us all to Utah and back so we could visit family and friends. My feet were so swollen when we got back home I didn't do anything but put them up, well I knit too. This is our pit stop at the Salt Flats. Way too bright.

 Sam discovered the joy of playing minecraft. I don't know if the blanket helped him play better or what.

 San Jose State University is a really pretty campus. We came here one Saturday to watch one of Mr. Jewels' coworkers play wheelchair basketball.

 Mister Incognito. It's amazing how he got his hair to do that style.

still to be continued

o what a year; part 1

It all starts with Christmastime 2013, our family Christmas pictures were taken in the snow and in our home, I wanted to have some daily reminders to keep with me of our time here. Christmas decorations were put up quickly and taken down quickly after Christmas day because we had to prepare the house and ourselves for our move to a place that probably never received snow; Gilroy, CA

January 1st:  With lots of tears and goodbye hugs given to friends and neighbors, we packed our remaining things into our two cars and left our beloved home, neighborhood, friends and family and set out on a two-day journey to Gilroy. The kids said goodbye to their teachers and schools.

It was lots of driving and stopping and driving and stopping, but we finally arrived the evening of January 2nd and hoped the moving truck would arrive the following morning, when it didn't, we thought maybe the next morning, that came and went, and then the following morning came and went with no moving truck.  Starting to get a little worried and annoyed. 

We slept in sleeping bags and kept ourselves somewhat entertained by playing games and going to the library to check out books and movies that we could watch on our little portable dvd player. It really was a miserable week, everyone was at each other's throats, all three kids got sick, we couldn't start the kids in school because we hadn't received their paperwork, Mr. Jewels hadn't started his job yet, we were completely broke and buying what food we needed using a credit card that we luckily found before we moved. To this day, I feel anxiety coming on when I think about this week. The birds were really the only ones who didn't seem to mind. Finally after a whole week of waiting the moving truck arrived. It took all my self-control to put on a happy face and not strangle the guy when he said he had no idea he had a delivery to make.

One day we took a trip to the beach to pass the time.  Sam hated all the sand. 

It didn't take long to unpack and it was so nice to sleep in our beds again, the kids started to feel better and they were able to start school. Our ward was really small, but very friendly. I received a call to teach in Relief Society and Mr. Jewels was called into the Young Men's program. Jonathan wore bow ties to church every Sunday and soon after some of the other young men were doing the same and he was able to play the music for Priesthood meetings. Eme made friends quickly and the same with Sam.

February; Jonathan reached my height and it was all over from there, it's hard disciplining a child who is taller than you.

We took a day trip up to San Francisco and what do we happen to come across while walking the streets. True Love (and litter). 

this car really is better looking in person. I hadn't gotten used to the constant sunshine yet.  I would soon be wearing sunglasses on a regular basis, it wouldn't be just a fashion tend, it was a necessity.

Expecting our baby #4, this was at about 21 weeks

  Our glorious neighborhood, they had a table saw in the front, cars and broken cars parked everywhere and they hung out in the garage drinking on the weekends, but the rainbow is nice.

We visited this beautiful temple often, it would take most of our day to get there and back, but it was worth it.  My grandfather on my mother's side helped build this temple.

to be continued