Back to St. George, only this time the kids and I were excited to see Kyle in a week! It's been a long TDY and we are ready to be united again as a family.
We jumped right back into swim lessons, and again Connor continued to impress with his swimming skills while Abby was still afraid to put her eyes in the water. We made sure to practice every morning in Grandma's pool. I am just hopeful that we can keep up their swimming skills when we go back to Japan. It definitely was a fun summer activity for the kids, and we are grateful for the experience.
Well, I have officially given up on potty training. We have been struggling with it these past couple months with Abby and I was really hoping Grandma or Nonna would be the "secret weapon" that magically got Abby to go in the potty. I honestly think the biggest issue is that every time we make a little progress we are leaving on a trip somewhere and it throws off her routine. So when we get back to Misawa we plan to stay put for 8-9 months (thank you baby number 3) so we will just have to hit the whole potty training thing hard and heavy then! Maybe we just need to go cold turkey and cut out diapers all together. I'm just so afraid of the potential mess. Perhaps I lay a tarp down in the living room and trap her to one room, hahaha. Seriously though, I am getting desperate. I even used the princess dresses grandma got her to play in as a reward while in St. George, but that didn't work. Besides, the dresses were so adorable I couldn't not let her wear them! We only have a short time in St. George and I wanted her to get to wear the pretty dresses as much as possible. Of course Abby loves the Elsa dress, but she also got to wear Bell dress, Cinderella, and Snow White dresses. They were adorable and Abby felt like such a princess every day. Grandma sure knows how to spoil my kids, and now I think Santa Clause knows what to get Abby for Christmas.
We got to see Janae, Steve, Courtney, and Ryan Black this week as well. They were in town picking up Ryan and dropping off Courtney at BYU for her to start her freshmen year. It was fun to catch up with them and visit. They too are military and recently moved from Florida to Mississipi. It's always nice to talk, and vent, Air Force life with people who understand. I just hope it isn't long before we can catch up again with them.
I desperately needed a change with my hair-do. I have been too afraid to get my hair cut while in Misawa ever since I went off base once and my hair got slaughtered. I think it was a combination of a language barrier and not understanding what I wanted exactly cause Japanese and American hairstyles are very different. For example, most Japanese women have bangs and do not add color or highlights to their hair. Meanwhile Americans are constantly dying, highlighting, and doing everything you can think of to our hair.
The day we had been waiting for had finally come. We got to see Kyle again after two months. Kyle, Brady, Blake, and Cody all spent a week in Alaska fishing after Kyle's TDY, and they all returned on Sunday morning. The kids were so excited to see him they didn't really know how to control their emotions. They would scream and jump on him, then be afraid every time he left the room thinking he was leaving them again. The emotional roller coaster these poor little kids go through must be crazy, I just hope it doesn't scar them for life and create anxiety or separation/commitment issues later on. But it is true, one moment their dad is there, then the next he is gone for two months. They just don't understand or comprehend what's going on so it creates a greater fear and excitement in them concerning Kyle's whereabouts.
It was just so nice to finally have a tag team partner again. Someone to help out with putting the kids to bed, to help with the disciplining, and all the dirty details that come along with patenting. More importantly I was just so happy to be reunited with my best friend, my better half again. Even though we talked often on the phone I felt as though we had so much to catch up on.
We had planned on driving up to Burley Idaho to visit Kyle's grandma, but she was actually down in Salt Lake City for hip replacement surgery. So we decided to drive up and see her anyways. It was a surprise visit, but we are so glad we got to visit with grandma Ruth before and right after her surgery. We were actually at the hospital as soon as she got done with the procedure. She looked great and hopefully will be out of a lot of pain now thanks to her new hip. We all love grandma Ruth, but Kyle especially has a soft spot for his grandma since he lived with his grandparents for his senior year. I just love getting to see my kids interact with their great grandparents and create relationships and memories. I think it'sa special thing that not too many get to experience in this life. My kids can officially say they met their grand parents, great grandparents, and great great grandparents (thank you Nana).
Of course we couldnt go up to Salt Lake City without stopping in Provo to visit our old stomping grounds. We drove past our old apartment where we lived when we first got married, drove a little around BYU campus and got to visit with Doug and Taylor some more. Provo is such a fun place to be in the fall. Lots of excitement and energy as a new year and semester are starting up at BYU. The weather is perfect and the pretty mountains make you feel all cozy and tucked in. We really have wonderful memories of our time in Provo while we were going to school. That's where we met, fell in love, spent our first three years of married life, and made wonderful memories to last us a lifetime. Now we just felt like the old geezers walking around with two kids and another on the way. We definitely didn't blend in with the college life this time around and realized how much has change in our lives since we our time there.
Our final stop before heading back to St. George was Krispy Kremes. I have not had a good donut in so long, it was a mandatory stop of all the places I wanted to go. It was just as good as I remembered, maybe even better. It was just what this pregnant momma needed. Now being all sugared up it was time to head back to St. George.
Kyle and I wanted to have a last minute getaway together. We have not been able to get away since we have had the kids, and that's been over three years. We figured before baby number three joins the party we needed some much needed "us" time. So we took a little babymoon and spent the night in Vegas. Kaye and Brady were nice enough to watch the kids for us so we could have a fun night out together, just the two of us.
Even the car ride from St. George to Vegas with no kids was so relaxing and enjoyable. We walked around the strip a little as soon as we got there, then went to meet up with some old squadron friends for dinner. Both the Goodes and the Kays are stationed at Nellis. I just love staying in touch with our military friends! We have such wonderful memories with them while in Misawa that it was like we picked thing up right where we left them! Once a panther, always a panther! Cave Putorium to the greatest wild weasels ever!
After much fun, good food, and laughter we parted ways and together Kyle and I headed to the Terry Fader show. He is a comedian/ventriloquist. It was funny and we enjoyed our time at his show, but looking around we realized we were the youngest people in the room by a good 20-30 years! The audience was filled with 50+ aged individuals, and it was then we realized we have "old people" taste hahaha. That's what happens when you become parents... You start watching older people entertainment cause it's usually on earlier in the evenings so you can still get to bed early.
To finish out our night in Vegas we walked the strip, enjoyed the warm dessert summer night air, ate some more yummy American snacks like Auntie Ann's pretzels (I'm still drooling over how good those pretzels were), stared at some interesting characters, and tried to shop but most stores were already closed for the night. We checked into the Palazzo hotel where we had a beautiful room overseeing Vegas. It was so much fun just me and my love walking around hand in hand and enjoying one another's company without chasing after toddlers. I love my kids more than anything, but I will always love my husband more. Kyle is my other half, my best friend, my eternal companion. When it's all said and done Abby and Connor will grow up and eventually leave us. Kyle though, he's stuck with me forever. I am glad I picked a good one or else eternity sure would feel long :)
Our time in the states came to an end. Kaye, Brady, and Beth all headed down to Arizona to visit family and watch the BYU football game and we headed to the Vegas airport to fly up to Seattle. It's always hard saying goodbye, especially since we don't know when our next visit will be. Good bye grandma and grandpa, good bye delicious food, Good bye 'Murica, and good bye summer. It was a lot of good byes for us to swallow, and both Abby and Connor cried and cried on the way to the airport. We sure are blessed to have amazing family take care of us and let us crash with them for a month. I have enjoyed watching my kids develop stronger relationships with their grandparents, and be spoiled rotten by them. They have loved every minute of this trip, as have I. It really helped to take our minds off the fact that Kyle was gone. Now it is time to get to Seattle, cross our fingers we make the space available flight back to Japan, and pick up our lives again. Back to work, schedules, obligations, and responsibilities. Back to cold and wet weather, language barriers, and a tiny home. Back to limited food options, OBGYN appointments, and walking the dog. But it also means we go back to exploring Japan, traveling around Asia, and eventually meeting our baby boy! I look forward to what this next year will bring being a family of 5 and traveling the world.
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