WOW! I haven't blogged in over a month now! SOOOO much has happened since my last blog!
First of all, Jeff arrived in Minnesota on June 25th. Of course, we weren't lucky enough for that to go smoothly! His plane was late, due to storms, and I was sitting in the airport with the kiddos until 10pm! The kids were excited and exhausted all at the same time. And, I am terrible, I did NOT even take any pictures of Jeff's arrival and the hugging and whatnot. We were so stressed and tired that we tried to get out of there quickly! It was so nice to have him come home after 4 long months!
After he got home, we planned on driving out to Colorado together on July 5th. Did things happen this way? Absolutely not! (Does anything ever happen normally in my life???) I called the moving company and told them I would like to have movers come within the week. She pretty much laughed at me and said that there was no way it could happen that quickly. I was so disheartened by yet another obstacle. The soonest they could get packers and movers to my house was July 15th and July 16th. And Jeff HAD to be to Fort Carson by July 8th..........So, he had to drive out there alone. He left on July 6th and made it to Colorado in time. Although things didn't go as we had planned, it gave Jeff the opportunity to look at places for us to live. He looked at lots of different houses and apartments and we decided that it would be best to get into an apartment. Yes, we have a large, crazy family, but the deposits are so much cheaper and we were strapped for cash. I found the apartment online and he went to look at it. It's called Camelback Pointe and it's kind of on a hill and the views of the mountains are AWESOME! He looked at it, called me, and put in an application. The next morning we were told it was ours! This was finally some good news for us. We would have a place to live once we arrived in Colorado Springs!!
During all the craziness, I did take Owen to see his ENT and they said he needed another surgery. They left it up to us on whether or not to do it before we left for Colorado. I decided to have it done before we left Minnesota. So, on July 9th, Owen went in for his 2nd throat surgery. He did great and he wasn't nervous or scared at all!! My dad was there the whole time with us, so that was a relief. Since Jeff couldn't be there, it was nice to have someone else with us. The doctor took some pics while he was in Owen's throat, so we could see the 'before' and 'after' and I was, again, disheartened. His papillomas were the same size as the first time he had the surgery done. So, in just a little less than 5 months, they were back with a vengeance. I can't imagine having to do this more than once a year! But, we can't leave it be, or he could stop breathing one day. So, we will find an awesome ENT in Colorado and keep a close eye on his throat. He recovered just fine and by that evening, he was laughing and jumping around and having fun. He bounced back and was a little louder that same day!
There was another issue........how would I get myself, 4 kids, 2 cats, and a dog out to Colorado by myself?? I figured out how to situate my minivan and I was pumped! I knew I could do it! My mom, being the wonderful mom she is, said, "You are NOT driving to Colorado by yourself! I am going with you!" So, my mom planned it out, so she wouldn't miss work and we planned on where we were going to stay at the 'halfway' point. We had it all worked out! So, my packers came on July 15th and packed my house. The movers came on July 16th and loaded my house into a semi-truck. We stayed with my dad for two nights, then we stayed with my mom for two nights, and we left bright and early on July 20th! We drove from Maple Grove, Minnesota to Grand Island, Nebraska. It was an all day event, but the kids did awesome, and so did the animals! I was amazed at how well the cats did! They didn't even meow or cry! And, they were free to roam the minivan while we drove. I think they liked that!
We stayed in a hotel in Nebraska and in the middle of the night, Cleo woke up and said she had a sore back?? I rubbed her back for awhile and then she started burping really weird. I knew what was coming........yep, she puked in the bed. I felt so bad for her. I gave her a bath at 5 am and changed her into fresh jammies and we covered the small puke spot in the bed and went back to sleep for a few more hours. We got up bright and early and got on the road again. Cleo was fine, so it was a one time deal (thank God!) We were all super excited to finally get to Colorado!
I gotta tell ya, once we got into the Denver area, we could see the mountains in the distance. It looked like a painting. I had to keep blinking, because I wasn't sure I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing! They were gorgeous! The kids were really excited to see the mountains, too! But, on the drive from Denver to Colorado Springs, I had NO IDEA that we would get that much closer to the mountains! I thought they were cool in Denver.........they are so much cooler in Colorado Springs! There are points when you are driving and it feels like the mountains are going to eat you up! It's amazing! We made it to Colorado Springs and the kids were really getting antsy!! They started chanting, "Colorado Springs! Colorado Springs!" I think Westin was the loudest!! He just wanted to yell! We made it to our apartment and Jeff was there waiting. It really is a cute apartment. It's on the third floor (top floor) on a corner. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a fireplace, bay windows in the dining room, a covered deck, a patio area outside the front door, and my favorite thing.......CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING!! Any of you who know about my previous residence know that I did NOT have a/c there! And I was livid about it! So, now I'm cozy in my little 1,244 sqare foot apartment with central air! You can't go wrong with that!
My mom stayed the night in our empty apartment and she flew home the next evening. Honestly, I don't know how I would have done the drive without my mom. I'm sure I could've if I had to, but it was so much easier with two adults! I cannot thank my mom enough for the help she gave me! She left on a Thursday and the movers said they would be coming with all our stuff on Saturday! We were so excited to get our stuff! I felt terrible for the movers, though, because there are NO ELEVATORS here, so they had to huff it up the stairs over and over again! (I guess there aren't elevators in a lot of apartments in Colorado Springs!) We got our stuff and when the movers left, we had boxes all over the place!! It was very overwhelming! We have A LOT of stuff......so to have to downsize was difficult! The next day, I think we unpacked just about every box. We threw a lot of crap away and we had three giant boxes that we donated to the Goodwill the next day!
We are settling into our new home nicely and the kids seem to really like it here, so far. I looked into the kids' elementary school nearby........then I was disheartened, yet again! The school they are 'supposed' to go to is called Jackson Elementary. It's more than a mile away and they are walkers!!! Are you kidding me?!? I am not letting my two boys walk more than a mile to school! They would get lost or get hit by a car or who knows?! (I guess Colorado Springs is not big into bussing kids to and from school). So, I figured I would be driving them everyday. That led me to another issue. Jackson Elementary is NOT my idea of a good school. I have done a lot of research on the schools in the area (http://www.schooldigger.com/ and http://www.greatschools.org/ ......awesome websites!!!) Jackson has 2 out of 5 stars on one site and a 5 out of 10 on another site. This, to me, is not good. If I am going to drive them anyway, I may as well find them a good school!! So, I just called some elementary schools yesterday (because the offices just opened) and I ended up 'attempting' to enroll them at Howbert Elementary. It's rated 20th out of 837 elementary schools in the state of Colorado. It's a very small school and it's old. We walked in yesterday and Julian said, "Ewww! What's that smell?!" I said, "Julian, that's the smell of an old school!" It was funny. But the ladies in the office were fantastic!! I filled out two papers and now we wait. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to do this, because school starts on August 18th!! If they don't accept the boys, then I plan on doing online public school. My brother Dylan does it. Connections Academy. It's completely free and all online. It's not home school, it's actually public school. Although I wasn't planning on doing things online for them, I would rather have them do online school, than go to a school I don't feel is good enough for them. I might sound like a b***h, but when it comes to education, I want my kids to have an awesome experience and a well-rounded education. As a parent, it's my job to make sure that they are in good hands when I'm not there. If I am not comfortable with a certain school, then I will not settle and let them go there. So, now we wait and see what Howbert has to say.
I also applied to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. I'm not sure if I'll be able to start this semester or if I will have to wait until January, but either way, I'm going to go and get my Bachelor's Degree! I plan on getting a B.S. in Biology with an emphasis on Teaching. We'll see how that goes! It's nice, though, because the college is like 5 minutes up the road from my apartment! It would be so convenient! And it will keep me occupied when Jeff will be in the field and gone for training and deployed. That's another thing.......Jeff has to 'go to the field' on August 9th (yes, next Monday) and he won't be home until August 28th. It sucks, because I have to get the kids' school stuff figured out by myself and he will miss their first day of school (if they get accepted to Howbert). Jeff will be 'going to the field' again in October and November (for like 5 days each time) and then he will be gone in Louisiana the entire month of February! Ugh! And, as of now, he's scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan sometime next summer. But, I've learned quickly, that the Army is never a 'sure bet' until it actually happens. They might say one thing and do another, so I won't hold my breath on any of Jeff's field dates and deployment dates until they actually happen. Oh well. Only time will tell.
But, we really are having fun here and we are enjoying Colorado Springs very much! We even drove to the top of Pikes Peak the other day!! It was AMAZING!! .....and terrifying!!! It was an all day event, but very worth it! We saw a bunch of animals along the way and we saw some incredible views! I see why people come to Colorado Springs and never leave! It's so beautiful here! It really is. Of course, we miss our family and friends, but we can chat on the phone and Skype when we want to see each other. We will make it work! It was funny, the other day Cleo said, "I so happy to be in Colorado!" It was really cute. I'm sure we will all be getting homesick as the holidays near, but we will make it work out. Our crazy little family is very tough and we have a lot of love going around in this apartment. There's nothing we can't do, as long as we have each other! (Man, I sound like a Hallmark card!)
Anyway, I thought I would post a little (long) update on the past month. I know I didn't even cover all of it, but that's how we got to where we are now. I will say it again, thank you to all the family and friends who have supported us along the way. I know it hasn't been easy, but having your support makes it feel a little easier! We love you and miss you all!
Love (from Colorado)
Rachelle, Jeff, Owen, Julian, Cleo, and Westin
Sounds like you're off to a great start out there! Miss you lady..kisses!
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