Keeping Busy

      Two months is an eternity to be out if work! I'm use to coming up with things to keep the kids busy and  look forward to but my new job is to come up with family activities to keep us all busy. I'm sure it's going to be an adjustment when Ian does get "the call." Who will help with the  laundry and dishes . Ian has taken on the task of organizing.... everything. Something I will never be able to keep up on. It's true what they say, "many hands makes the work load light " and due to this we've had extra time on our hands. Our first adventure started with the best of intentions of my husband. I have been complaining about my jogging stroller tires being flat since October. I tried repairing it myself and lately I've decided just to upgrade and find something on Craigslist . After going to several bike shops though, finally someone offered some help on upgrading the tubes and Ian got to work on it. I was so happy to get my stroller back and wanted to show my appreciation. It has been in the low 40s and they kept saying it would snow but it wasn't coming. So I bundled Waylon up in 2 shirts and a snow suit. ( let me reiterate , the skies were clear and had been for days) We started out on our run and he had a warm bottle , a pacifier and a blanket, just for comfort . Everything was great for the first 25 minutes, but then the wind picked up. Waylon started crying and the blanket kept falling off. I was so close to home, I couldn't see calling Ian. I figured I could run home in the time that he loaded the boys into the car and found me. So needless to say, I started running (faster) , the temperature dropped a bit and my fingers were freezing so I can only imagine poor little Waylon's. We lost the bottle and the pacifier. I think it was the fastest mile I've run yet . We got back to the park and I couldn't unbuckle my screaming child because my frozen fingers wouldn't work. So I pounded on the trailer door. Ian pretty much laughed at me and told me I was insane. He said Waylon wasn't cold to the touch , he was probably just scared. I promptly shut myself in the bathroom and cried, until I realized that Waylon wanted me! What a gift that children trust their parents. A gift sometimes I feel I don't deserve . So we bundled him up in a blanket and gave him a warm bottle because I was convinced he was freezing. He went right to sleep. At that moment, Ian opened the front door and we saw quite a snow storm hit. In only a few minutes the jogging stroller was covered in several inches of snow. We have had the nicest weather but it can change very suddenly. As this story shows. It felt like a huge momma fail.
    On Monday we celebrated Houston's 7th birthday. Yes, all of our birthdays seem to be around the same part of the year, we're almost done with birthday season over here, just have to celebrate mine at the end of the month and then we'll be good til November. We wanted to make his birthday special but being on a budget we were kinda winging it. We decided to get him a new bicycle because the one he had was way too small and it's a great activity to do when you live on the road. It could hardly have been a surprise to him, because we took him to bike shops all weekend long having him try this one and that one. So Sunday night, I decorated the trailer with party decorations and he woke up to his favorite breakfast, buttered croissants on angry bird plates and his new bike! We finished our school work and then decided to go to an indoor rock climbing gym. Houston is a spider monkey. He was up and down the walls like a pro. Were looking at a future lineman in that boy.Wrex went up a few times just to prove he could, but he wasn't that into it. This gym was no joke, they gave Ian and I a tutorial on tying the knots and all of the proper procedures (I didn't climb but I learned all the stuff so I could be at the bottom with the ropes. (Sorry I don't know all the terms, I was just happy to be there and learn a figure eight knot.) Houston went up so many difficult wall climbs that I'm pretty sure he pushed Ian to do more than he would've done. You can see a friendly father son competition budding between the now seven year and his dad. After that we grabbed some In N Out (birthday boys choice) and we went home to play some new board games. We had a great, corny, old fashioned birthday dinner . We ate homemade fried chicken, again not my choice to make in a trailer, but it was the birthday boys request. We ate chocolate cake and played cards. All in all it was a really fun day .
        We were lucky enough this week to have a friend watch our kids for us so we could have a date night . We went to see "Silver Linings Playbook " which I enjoyed but the movie theater was something I had never experienced . First of all the movies were way cheaper than back home but once you're inside they have restaurants ( that's right several) and you could take a meal into your movie. How cool is that ? We had fun and got some great grub at Cafe Rio. Which is outside of the theaters.  I wasn't ready for that whole eating in the theater experience. Next time we'll have to get there a little earlier.  A big thanks to my friend Jen for making that happen. .
     We also found a neat little skate park near us. Perks of being home schooled is that it was pretty much empty and we are now declaring that our official spot for PE. I think it was just as good to get my husband out and moving as it was for the little boys
     So you see, we've been keeping busy. Ian gets really antsy if we don't keep our day filled. Poor guy is bored out if his mind. Hopefully I'll be posting that we're back to work soon, but until then, here are some pictures from our week.

Keeping my man busy at the skate park...yeah he's still got it

Clue, is one of my favorite board games! LOVE!

Sometimes I impress myself, with what we accomplish in this ity bity kitchen.

Just a warm up free climb

Dad is whipping these kids into shape, they are doing dishes nightly. ( I didn't say they were happy about it)

Look how big that snow bank is compared to him!

California Trip

Date night at the Yellow Deli

      Hey friends! Most of you know where I've been, but if you missed us, we took this opportunity to thaw out in sunny southern California! My mother in law welcomed our family of five into her home, where we spread out and took over. We arrived the day before Waylon's birthday and we invited whoever was around for pizza and cake . It was so cool to celebrate with our extended family and catch up with friends. Ian got to surf, just once I think, on account of his missing wet suit, which sent him on a scavenger hunt in our storage unit . Funny how you forget what you've left behind, I like to keep if forgotten since we're all ready maxed out in here. We got our fill of  In-N-Out, sometimes several times a week. We made these trips our date with Grandpa Kevin. By the end if the trip,  I was eating my burger on a bed of lettuce "protein wrapped " but who am I to stand between my children and their beloved In-N-Out. I got to go to the botanical gardens with a friend and even squeezed in a beach day with the boys. Ian and I got to have a few dates here and there, which is always the best! We finally discovered " The Yellow Deli" in Vista, which Ian describes as having a trip in the Pirates of the Caribbean. I don't care how you describe the ambiance, it's definitely something to experience, I got the best yogurt parfait. Yes it was dinner time but the guy was really selling me on it and I'm so glad I got it. That and a weird green drink that I loved so much I went out and bought a magic bullet for the trailer which I still have only used to grind coffee beans, but that's another story. Actually, I'll tell you right now my father in law came to hang out with us and gave us some delicious Kona coffee. It was amazingly good and is seriously ruining my normal yuban routine .
       We spent one of our three weeks in a friends toy hauler. He was out of town that week and offered it to us to stay in. First of all,  he taught us the power of febreeze, this trailer smelled so good, even with all of our stinky boys staying in it. Secondly, wow,  how amazing it would be to have a full size closet but even more importantly was having an enclosed room in the back where Waylon couldn't hear us at nap time. These things seriously have us dreaming about toy haulers.

      The next thing we did was celebrate Ian's birthday! We kept it low key and had pizza and cookies with his mom and sister . We hung out and looked at pictures of little Ian when he was growing up. So proud of the man he has become. This tied in well with my present I got him . Not much I could do with the out of work budget, but I  managed to find a ton of pictures of Ian from over the past ten years,  we've been together and I compiled them in a photo album for him. He really liked it and I love seeing the boys (and us) age in the pictures. We also got to celebrate his birthday with my aunts and uncles and cousins. Again after being on the road and celebrating on your own, it was so fun to celebrate with family.

     We took the opportunities this trip offered  and Ian got to go to motocross with the guys and I got to take a hot yoga class and was able to run in the sun, what a difference! We spent the morning drinking coffee with Ian's mom and watching Waylon torture the cat and hide things in the bird cage.  We made dr appointments and tried to enjoy each others company while it lasted .
      Finally, it was that time of the month when Ian has to be in Salt Lake for class and I decided to come back with him. We had a lot of really good times in California but I really missed my own space, my own stuff, my own bed. It seems silly to miss a trailer but its mine and I've grown fond of it. So on Valentines day we set off for Salt Lake City . Unfortunately, this timing coincided with me fighting a major cold and Waylon teething . The boy made it through his birthday without a single tooth and now he's getting four at once! And this is how I found myself at a Motel 6 in St George Utah on Valentines Day. I like to think of myself as an easy going gal , but around Vegas I woke up with completely plugged ears and totally backed up sinus' so as I read my husbands lips when he mouthed "no porta crib, share bed with Waylon" I started to cry. He couldn't quite understand my distress but he offered to go to Target to buy a porta crib. I took him up on it because anyone who has had Waylon sleep or nap in your house can imagine that there is no sharing a bed with Waylon. I really needed a good nights rest with my head cold, so off we went to buy a porta crib after we had just left one behind at my mother in laws house. Am I  the only one who feels like a slow learner? We ended up having dinner at Cracker Barrel (I had soup) and as my husband looked around he said "today's Valentines Day and I got you a room at the motel 6" and I said "yes" and he said " we probably would've spent less money if we would've stayed at a nicer hotel" just knowing that he can realize these things gives me hope but the action of him buying another porta crib - that gave me rest which I most desperately needed.
       So the following day we made it to Salt Lake City . We got our trailer in at the park and  Ian thawed everything out. We were surprised at how warm it was here. It's in the 40s which isn't bad at all and there's just a bit of leftover snow on the ground. It was such a good feeling to be back in my own trailer, with all my stuff and a new change of clothes (we had 4 pairs of clothes each, for three weeks.) It made me want to deep clean and organize everything , but that feeling soon passed. Now we've been hanging out getting caught up on Wrex's schoolwork. It turns out he skipped over a lot of school work while we were in California. That's how we spent our three day weekend, hope all is well on your adventure. Love you all and we'll see you again real soon.

It is NOT always sunshine and roses over here. In case you got that impression...

       We made it to Salt Lake. Driving away from Durango was bittersweet. I was so sad to leave behind my friends and the town which I have called home for the past seven months, part of me felt like I was getting uprooted and I had to keep telling myself that "this is the deal, the plan was never to find a mountain town and get settled in, but to travel as a family on the road, exploring new places." So with a deep breath , we drove away. This time the truck pulled the fifth wheel with no problem. When we moved in the summer, we had issues with the truck overheating but due to the cold weather and hopefully all the truck repairs we went through this summer, we had no problems. The drive from Salt lake to Durango this summer (towing the trailer) took us almost 10 hours, but this time we made it in 7 1/2 hours. Which was much better, but still really uncomfortable in my vehicle. Waylon really didn't get why we were stuck in the car for so long and I kept holding Wrex or Houston hostage in my vehicle to keep Waylon entertained. It didn't take long for either of them to plead with me to go back to dad's truck. After a very long day we got to our new park at 7:50pm. The office was open till 8 which I thought was cool. So we got our spot number and went to settle in. I helped Ian back in and then took his phone (because mine was dead) and navigated the boys to the nearest In N Out. We thought it would be best if Ian could get things set up while I got dinner. It was just after 8 by then and we were all famished. So I came back with two double doubles only to find a disgruntled husband. Apparently, they had put us in a spot rated for a 50 watt plug in and we have a 30 watt. He ran to the office before they closed and they gave him an adapter, but when he got back to the trailer he saw they gave him the wrong one. So he went back to the office, but they had closed up and gone home. I'm sure he would've at this point made a few phone calls but guess who had his phone? That's right, this girl, who was taking her sweet time munching on In N Out. Yep, totally my style. So I came back and Ian let me in on our troubles, we had it all set up but no electricity. This might not be a huge problem for some, but here was my issue. Our heater runs on propane, but the heat doesn't distribute evenly throughout the fifth wheel. The heat is concentrated to mainly our bedroom and trickles throughout the fifth wheel. So usually, Ian and I are either sweating or trying to block off our vent, in hopes that the other vents will have more heat pushed through. To keep the kids warm, they have heating blankets and an electric heater in their room and they are always nice and toasty. Without electricity though, we would be depending on the propane heater to keep everyone warm.  Since we had been on the road all day, as it was, you could see your breath in the trailer. So I decided right then that there was no way we could heat the trailer enough for the kids to be comfortable. So we pulled up "kayak" and found the cheapest motel near by and checked into the Comfort Inn. Ian and I were a little frustrated with the turn of events but Waylon was more than happy to stroll around the motel room. In fact that's what he did for a few hours and when we tried to put him to sleep in the porta crib he resisted. It was a pretty restless night for Ian and I, Waylon kept fussing and by 6 am, I was up with Waylon at the continental breakfast.


Ian's art project

     A few hours later, Ian went to the trailer to start thawing things out. Since we left everything closed the night before, everything was frozen, pipes, tanks and a lot of our food. Did you know when banana's freeze, they turn brown. It also ripens them up. I left them slightly green and came back to ripe frozen bananas. Anyway, to add a bit to our frustration the trailer had a few issues. The "landing gear" the automatic jacks that you put down when it's parked, blows fuses every time its used which really ticks Ian off. More importantly our fridge was acting up before we left Durango and now it simply isn't working. It's cold enough in these parts where it is not warm inside the fridge but I wouldn't say it's cold and the freezer is just not happening. So all in all my attitude was poor yesterday. I felt like I was waking up from a dream,  telling myself "what are you doing? are you really living in a trailer, on the go every couple of months?" I had to take a deep breath and make some banana bread. Really, what else was there to do? Over the course of the day, Ian thawed things out, and I watched suspiciously. His attitude was peculiarly upbeat. I spent the rest of the afternoon, teaching Wrex about dividing decimals and Ian, eventually bored out of his mind, started coloring. I should mention that Waylon took a nice long nap yesterday. He was exhausted from the previous day's events. Houston  was all caught up on school and enjoying a "Magic School Bus " marathon. By the end of the night we had picked up a pizza, since the fridge doesn't work and pizza is super easy for dinner when you're living in the city again. We ended up having some good, quality family time due to the fact that this park doesn't have a cable hook up. Which reminded me of the reason we moved in to this situation in the first place. To be a family. So the fridge will hopefully get fixed soon. Ian is still waiting on the next call but I hear the voice of a warmer place calling my name....we will see.

Yes He's Bored

#40 and the Flu

Our ice cream didn't look as pretty but tasted great

Source: bloomingonbainbridge.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Making snow Ice cream

 
 Well I posted an update yesterday and then deleted it accidentally while cooking breakfast burritos , so lets try this again! Well we have been out of work for a week now and right after the layoff our trailer was hit with the flu. This was something I had been fearing ever since the idea of tramping around popped into our heads. Ian was down and occupied the bedroom, Houston had it the worst , he took over the boys room at times or the couch. That poor, sweet boy was vomiting for five days.  I finally took him in and the Dr took pity on us and gave us anti nausea medicine. Little Waylon had a fever and wouldn't let me put him down for a day and a half but I was so happy he didn't get the "pukes." Wrex somehow stayed healthy, as did I. This was one of the worst situations I could think of just because there was no where to hide from each other, but in the end, we got through it and no one threw up on the carpet or the couch so it's really the small things I'm grateful for.
     When Ian started to feel better he was a huge help. He has never been laid off in his adult life so he wasn't use to the downtime and at first kept himself busy with homework. If he was bored I'd ask him to do the dishes or the laundry, it didn't take long for him to stop saying we was bored! His best one liners would come at the end of the day. One night he said " this stay at home gig is BS!" Once Waylon was up at dawn and Ian observed " I feel like we're in prison and Waylon is the Warden." Seeing that my husbands witts are still intact I'd say he's doing just fine.
     My schedule hasn't changed too much except now I can leave home without all the kids in tow, so I tried to take advantage of that this week. Also I am promoting Ian to our homeschooling "art teacher" he is much better at it than me and the kids are so proud if his work!
     So we still have 39 guys ahead of us to get put back to work. It's any one's guess how long that will take to get to us, in the mean time Ian has his monthly class in Salt Lake City next weekend. We've decided to move our trailer there. In the event that the books don't move very fast , it makes sense to be near class, it's also a better central location to wherever we get called out to next. We're pretty confidant that the work in this southwest corner has dried up a bit and If  we do go to Denver next, the mountain pass from here to Denver is not ideal for towing and we'd be better off on the highways of Salt Lake. It would also be nice to be in the city for a bit before our next adventure. Think Target and In-N -Out -pretty motivating!

     We did get some snow over the past few days . Not too much but enough to add a new fluffy layer on top of the melting Christmas snow. I'd say there's about 18 inches of snow on the ground . The kids and I hadn't been here for the fresh snowfall last time so we took the opportunity to make snow ice cream for our ice cream night on Friday.  The boys loved it and had fun collecting the snow for it, it really is the simple things isn't it? Needless to say, we spent a lot of time inside this week, so yesterday we hit "Chapman's Hill," a local skating rink where there's an outside area that kids can learn how to snowboard or ski but on the other side is the perfect hill for sledding! So we got all our snow gear on (double checked it)  and bought a disk and a tube and went out for some fun. The kids had a blast , I think it was the first time they didn't need me prodding them to play in the snow . Wrex even felt inclined to teach me how to sled down because he had become an expert in his hour of sledding . We had so much fun and ended out our day at our favorite pizza joint in town.(Which incidentally is closing down, must be  our sign to move on.)  It was a fun family day but I think we're ready to move onto new adventures. I'll let you know next week how our journey to Salt Lake goes, wish us luck!

Ian and Houston's art project

Back from the Holidays! Where to Now?

 Hey All! Sorry I left you hanging, I took the time in Maryland to relax and slack off . We had such a great time and I feel so well rested. There's nothing like being with your mom for the Holidays. It took about a week and a half just to unwind, I did this mostly by baking large quantities of Christmas cookies , which we took to calling "Kristina's fat pills." Not only did I bake my heart out but my mom brought out the old Chocolate candy house molds and we decorated chocolate candy houses which I think is way better than gingerbread or graham cracker houses.It was so  nice to be in a house that was completely decorated for Christmas it really made our Christmas special! I cannot even tell you how good it felt to have a Grandma take the kiddos off my hands so I can go to Target alone (WOO HOO!)

   Ian was able to join us before Christmas which was truly a blessing, because we were told that a layoff would be coming soon and we weren't sure of the timing and if it would effect him coming out to be with us. We were able to spend the Holidays as a family and what made it so special for me was that I actually got to go on quite a few dates with my husband, thanks to Grandma and the Uncles ( a huge shout out to Adri becasue I know Preston fell asleep on babysitting duty) who watched our kids for us.  I don't think we've had that much time together in a long while, it was very memorable for me. Apparently it was memorable for the people in their town too because Ian kept getting recognized by his moustache, one day we went to Cracker Barrel for Breakfast and Outback for dinner and it just so happened that our server worked at both places and remembered Ian, people were constantly calling him out, telling him how awesome his moustache was, I can tell you, he was very proud of the reputation the stache got around town.

  I also got to go on quite a few runs with my family members, which was good because I ate a lot of those "fat pills" I had been baking. I started my mom out on the couch to 5k program and she did great, I ran with my brother Nate, who came home and promptly told everyone that he was faster than me (this is true by the way, but I think I can out distance him so :P) Then one day Ian mentioned that I never invite him on a run, so we made a running date, unfortunately his mind was willing but his body wasn't. My poor husband, he really thought he could just jump into running, because he is very fit, but lets just say his knees were in serious protest. But what memories we made!
   My brothers all flew out and drove out for Christmas, it had been sometime since all four of us were together and we had a really great Christmas. I made an amazing Prime Rib, which was a first for me and I sent Wrex and Houston on a scavenger hunt to get their Christmas present. I could not have asked for a better vacation. We even were able to go to a dinner and a movie date  with my brothers and their wives and girlfriend in Ian and Nate were laughing so hard at "This is 40." Great movie to watch if you've been married awhile, it'll make you laugh! Seriously we had such a good time. I haven't even told you about the ice sculptures we saw, or visiting with extended family. I know I should've posted more but I truly and thoroughly just enjoyed myself. And you never would have guessed who was sleeping through the night?  That's right my little Waylon monster, slept like a baby, thank the Lord! He also left Maryland a walking boy and now there is no stopping him. It was hard to say goodbye to all of our family, but Colorado was calling. It had snowed quite a bit over the Christmas break, not much for the locals but a lot for this California girl to take in. The roads are clear and the trailer is warm, so we are grateful. Unfortunately, the job here is completed and we are officially laid off. So now we wait , until the next job, which we don't know when or where that will be. I'd be lying if I said that we didn't find this unnerving, but we know that this is a part of the apprenticeship and we know of others who have weathered it out, so we will wait patiently and see what God has in store for us next.

More snow adventures and a trip on the Polar Express

  
   We had a busy weekend last weekend! It started out by Ian inviting us to come up to Ouray to see where he's working. "come see some snow" he says, "they're having a helicopter fly in some poles" he says. Sounded like cheap fun to me. So we made our way to Ouray on Saturday around noon. It was a long drive, he told me to drive slow because the roads were slippery and there is no guard rail on most of it. There are some crazy hair pin turns as you zig zag up the mountain. Well , I forgot that Wrex gets motion sickness because it doesn't happen all the time. So when his stomach hurt, he looked at the clock and said "Mom it's past lunchtime." Being, oh so prepared I tossed him back a sandwich. It wasn't long after that,  I saw him slump to the side, when I asked him if he was okay, his reply "No mom, I just threw up." EWWWW. I pulled over, thankfully there was a snow bank to pull over in. Sure enough he had spewd all over his shoes and pants and on my floor mat. I know that people think when you turn into a mom that you don't mind picking up your kids puke, but I do. I think of those parts in the movies where someone says" If I smell it, I'm going to do it too!" And this is the attitude that had me throwing the floor mat and his shoes in the snow, I stomped on them , hoping they would self clean. I was so grateful that I had packed Wrex snow pants and snow boots. I had him change into that and then we were faced with a dilemma. Drive another 45 minutes to Ouray or an hour and 15 minutes back home. I just kept thinking "play in the snow, see a helicopter" I asked the kids and they wanted to continue. Either way we were staying in the puke mobile, there are NO little towns on this trek into the mountains to stop and get a car wash. So we continued. and Wrex was in a much better mood. I let him sit in the front seat for the rest of the way and he DJ'd with my iphone. His famous words to me "mom, I should've warned you, I thought it was just going to be a puke burp." Yes Wrex a warning would've been good. It wasn't long before we made it, Houston spotted the lineman on the side of a mountain. So we pulled over, the kids got the half packed snow gear they grabbed, Wrex had pants but no jacket or sweatshirt. Houston had a jacket and snow boots but no snow pants and socks. At this point I'd like to point out that Waylon was snow ready!

So we got out of the car and hiked up to where Ian was. We had missed the helicopter by hours! I thought it was an all day thing, it turns out Helicopters are expensive and they work as quickly as possible, where is my common sense these days? Well at least we got to see Ian working, I got some cool pictures of him and his crew working. My favorite is a picture of Wrex smiling and Ian working in the background. I love pictures of kids on jobsites, it warms my heart, like were back in the 80s.  Anyways, it wasn't long before Houston's sock less feet felt like they were going to fall off. I have never heard him howl like that. I think he believed his feet were going to fall off. So after 20 mins we got back in the car. I had him heat up his feet in front of the heater and I had to give him my socks and drive barefoot home. It was quite the day. Can you tell? Not all my adventures turn out great.

    The next night made up for it. We went on another train ride in Durango, this ride was on the Polar express. I will say in McCay fashion we showed up 5 minutes before it left and almost missed the train, so we stumbled upon our car, bumping the "chef" in the back just as she was asking "who wants hot cocoa?" In comes the McCay family. The way our seats turned out, Wrex and Houston sat single facing each other, and Ian and I were behind them facing each other, holding Waylon.
It was a really cool experience, they served hot cocoa and cookies, they punched our golden tickets, the hobo went through the train, some nerdy kid with glasses came around asking me questions about the model of train we rode, it was very exciting. Waylon thought so too, until it got dark . As we went through town, they read us the story and we were able to see all of the town and houses lit up with Christmas lights. They took us by the "North Pole" and we waved to Santa. After we sang Christmas carols. Some of my favorite parts were Houston turning to Ian saying "I really like this dad" later when Santa came through our train, Ian said he didn't see him, Wrex answered very quickly "that's because you're naughty dad" Those kids don't miss a beat! haha. I'm so glad we were together to share that experience. It may seem silly now, Wrex is almost too old for this type of thing, but he fully enjoyed it and we were together which was the most important thing.

   The kids and I are headed to Grandma's house tomorrow, it will be a nice change to have a little more space to stretch in. Ian will hopefully be joining us at Christmas. I hope when we get back we will still be in the Durango/Bayfield area but wherever our adventure takes us at least we're together.

Gobble, Gobble!

 Well we had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We drove to my friends house which was definitely in the country. On the dirt road out there we saw wild turkeys and deer. Deer we see all the time, but wild turkeys, that was different! The kids were in heaven there, the house was on 34 acres they had cows and over 150 chickens. I loved going inside someone else's house, does that make me nosey? Most of the houses here are all open beamed and gable roofs with pine wood planks on the ceiling. I'm sure theres a name for that, but I can't remember but it's gorgeous!  On this farm, which it truly is, my friend has a house on one end and her son and his family (with six kids) live on the other  side. When the cousins came there was at least 11 children running around. The kids had so much fun. While the women finished up the last touches the men folk went outside to shoot guns. Very all American. My friends son is a police officer in town so I felt like he had the situation handled of course Ian had a blast too.
    It was so cool to eat someone elses Thanksgiving menu, not only was everything cooked perfectly but we had pumpkin soup which was delicious. Also for desert we had pecan pie, which I never bother with, but oh man! I love it! WE had a wonderful time and I was so grateful for a new experience out of our comfort zone. The kids had so much fun with all the children, they were playing freeze tag, in the dark on 30 degree weather. It was a Thanksgiving to remember.
    The next day I cooked up our own Thanksgiving spread. I have to say compared to the day before, it was nothing special. My turkey dried out, the stuffing didn't turn out like Grandma Judi's, and the yams didn't look pretty because I tried to put them on the bottom of my little oven and the marshmallows just smeared. It tastes alright and we had leftovers. Besides , cooking in that little oven, it's a miracle I got it all done at once.
    The following day , I got the boys and Ian to go Christmas shopping with me. We really wanted to support local businesses and Durango is a perfect place to do that. They have a ton of small shops. This meant that some people are getting some "interesting" items, but hopefully they'll appreciate their souvenir from our year on the road. After shopping, we got to do something I have been wanting to do since we got here. We took an old Western photo. In my opinion all my favorite families have one of these and I love seeing them when the kids have grown and gotten older it makes them that much cuter. Houston right off the bat decided he wanted to be an Indian. I suggested to Wrex that wear a coon hat and he totally dug it as long as he got a gun. I wanted to be a saloon girl because when I was younger it was unacceptable to have a little girl as a saloon girl, instead I always looked like I hopped off a covered wagon. Very maidenly. Ian was already growing this "awesome" beard so he looks like a real mountain man. It made me so happy to have these and the girl gave me a couple prints for free, it was the best day ever!
  So I know this sounds like my life is a dream, but you know I try to keep it real. While I am very blessed to have so many adventures  I am human and am getting worn out. Waylon has some pretty horrible sleeping habits. He wakes up at midnight and 4 am. Ive given him a bottle a few times to keep him quiet so everyone can sleep and now of course he demands 2 bottles in the night, which isn't right. So I'm not really sleeping and then I'm a homemaker, teacher and all that other stuff I'm suppose to do. Which I love but I am very worn out. So we decided last night that the kids and I are going to Grandma Barbs house next Friday and the plan is for Ian to meet us out there for Christmas. The only glitch in this planning is that Ian will probably get laid off in the next few weeks. If he gets laid off before Christmas, he may be reassigned to a company in a new state and have to pack up and move while were gone ( where does that leave my car? I haven't figured this out yet) Also the new company may not want to give him the time off for Christmas, that would be horrible. Hopefully he will stay with this company until after the holidays so he will meet up with us. Prayers would be appreciated.  So that's where we are. I'm finishing getting our local Christmas gifts out and getting ready for Grandmas. I'll keep you up to date. Love to you all and Happy Holidays!

My spread made in the trailer

If he's pooped , you can imagine how I feel!