Durango Palmers: November 2013

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

I almost wrote happy turkey day but then I realized that makes thanksgiving all about the turkey. Which it isn't :) So happy Thanksgiving to you!

Our Thanksgiving started a few days ago. Mark and I were able to get away for a night last Friday. I am so thankful for friends who took our kids and enabled us to have alone time. So grateful for family of choice!

We left for Denver on Sunday morning (skipped church). I'm so thankful for a staff that is highly capable and willing to let us leave early and beat the weather!

On Monday I had a follow up appointment for my LASIK surgery. I have to get my right eye redone. Unfortunately it got a bit over corrected. Not super excited to do it again BUT I'm so thankful that I can see, that I had the surgery done (goodbye glasses and contacts!!) and that this second surgery is part of the warranty on my eyes ;)

After the appointment I took Kate clothes shopping. I'm so thankful for pastor appreciation which allowed us to get all 3 kids some clothes they all needed. I also got alone time with each kid individually which was precious and a blessing. I took Kale later that afternoon and Jack on Tuesday.

After shopping with Kate, we met my sisters and my nieces and nephew for a picture with Santa. We've not actually ever done that with our kids but it turned out to be a cute picture. I'm thankful for family, for sisters, for beautiful, healthy kids. Kale holding my nephew, Gavin, is hilarious!

Monday night we had my in-town siblings over to my parent's house (my folks were in Texas) and had a big Chinese dinner and then did our annual Thanksgiving candy turkeys. I think we've been doing these since I was in kindergarten. I'm thankful for old traditions with new family.

On Tuesday we headed up to Mark's parent's house in Boulder. I'm thankful that although our families live far away from us (or we live far away from them which is probably more accurately how they feel) that they live close together so we can see everyone when we come up.

The kids got to do art at grandma's house. Thankful that they are creative! Aren't they cute?

We had our Thanksgiving with Mark's family on Wednesday due to everyone's schedules. That's why I'm able to blog today. We already did our thing!

We spent the whole morning cooking which makes me thankful for electricity, stoves, microwaves and dishwashers. And many hands making light(ish) work. I'm thankful we didn't have to hunt, kill and dress our own turkey....or grow our own potatoes...so much thankfulness on Thanksgiving!

We made pilgrim hats on Tuesday so we could wear them at dinner while we shared what were thankful for. I'm thankful for a husband who will have fun with me.

We had a good time eating, laughing and sharing with family. I'm so thankful to have married into a fun family that loves each other.

Today we are sitting around recovering. We watched the Macy's parade and a few Duck Dynasty episodes. All while the rest of the country is either eating or shopping. We, of course, had to have fun with beards.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A memorable trip for many reasons

This trip was quite memorable. I mentioned last week that a dear family friend past away. Her name was Shirley Brewer and she was like my third grandma. The kids and I headed up to Denver for the memorial service which was held on Saturday.

The kids wore their hats that I made them :)

Mark followed us up in his truck. He had a district meeting on Saturday and then he headed back to Durango Saturday night. It was too much for the kids and I to go up and back that quick so we stayed till Monday.

Friday night I got hang out with my newest niece, Emma. She and I were wearing matching shirts so we had to get a picture taken.

Saturday morning my kids were outside playing with the neighbor kids and Jack had a jeeping accident. He fell off the power wheels Jeep. Nice lip huh?

Saturday afternoon was the service. My sister, Kelly, and I each shared some of our memories and my dad shared as well. It struck me as I was preparing for this, how special this couple was to me. I guess I always knew but when I had the chance to reflect on the impact they had on my life I was truly blessed.

Here are my siblings with Don (her husband). Don't mind our crazy eyes. The lighting was bad and this was the only picture we got of us with Don.

And just us "kids". I love my brother and sisters. And yes I am the oldest and the shortest.

We spent the rest of Saturday with family and friends celebrating Shirley's life.

Sunday morning the kids and I went with two of my sisters to Flatirons Church. It's really a neat place. And I've never heard a bad message when I've visited. I think what I appreciate about the pastor there is that he doesn't shy away from Truth or making you uncomfortable. He's real. I respect that very much.

This is some of the artwork on their wall. Crazy huh?

After church we stopped for lunch and Katie, unknowingly, ordered a sandwich the size of second base. It's hard to appreciate the size of the sandwich in this picture but we tried :)

I got some snuggle time in with my nephew Gavin. He wasn't feeling well so he was especially snugly here.

We introduced football to Kale. He watched the Broncos beat the Chiefs (we don't have live tv so this was a treat). He actually stayed for the entire game. And I think he liked it. In the middle of that, Mark called to tell me that Mishka got skunked. Poor Mark washed him 4 times then went to the store to get special shampoo. Thankfully he smells amazing now!

We left Monday morning to drive back to Durango. Unfortunately Kate caught a stomach bug. She was sick twice before we left. I had hoped she had gotten everything out of her tummy. Nope. Poor thing got sick about 7 more times on the way home. Thankfully she's big enough to make it into a bag.... I thought the trip was gonna be miserable but it actually went well despite the yucky circumstances. She was a trooper!

She's feeling better today but we're still taking it slow and gonna work on a bit of school and cleaning up. The house was beautiful and spotless when we got home. Now not so much. And we are leaving again for Denver on Sunday after church for Thanksgiving. Lots to accomplish before then!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Fill in

This month has been a bit more challenging to keep up on. I apologize for the gaps. This is my fill in post - filling you in on the things going on.

One of the main reasons we are busier is due to Mark's 2 classes. Most of his free moments, and even some not-so-free moments, are spent reading and writing papers. Mark will usually spend all day Saturday and Sunday writing papers and the evenings reading and doing posts. I am gone all day Friday doing 2 bible studies and mentoring a girl. It won't always be this totally crazy...at least that's what I keep telling myself.

The kids and I are doing great with homeschooling. After making a few additional tweaks, we are really cruising now. In fact, I'm thinking we could add a bit more if I could just get on top of it. But let's not go crazy just yet.

I'm dealing with a new round of insurance issues with my broken tailbone. They required an independent medical evaluation so they could see if they were are going to continue to pay for my medical treatment. Unfortunately there aren't a ton of things out there to help with a tailbone. It's still giving me a bit of a problem, which they say is unusual since it's been 10 months. They took X-rays and found out exactly how my tailbone is broken. Suffice it to say that because I was pushed into a car it didn't break like your normal tailbone. The IME doctor said I can have a cortisone shot to help with the pain (which may or may not work) or, if it's bad enough, have surgery to remove the broken piece of my tailbone. Frankly I think both of those options stink. I've been seeing a chiropractor weekly to help take care of the rest of my back (from sitting and sleeping differently) but now the insurance company is suggesting that they won't pay him because he isn't "fixing" my (unfixable) issue. Frustrating! So I've been praying for favor!

As I blog this, my husband is installing a new dishwasher. Four weeks ago our other one seemed to die its final death...only to work 1 time 3 weeks later. It seems to have been trying to hang on by a thread. But we gave it the boot and ordered a new one which has taken this long to arrive. Our kids got a taste of living in the "olden" days when you had to hand wash and dry every dish. It was fun for them at first but it quickly lost its thrill. Frankly I'm a bit tired myself of feeling like I'm always doing the dishes. :). So this new dishwasher is coming at the right time. Yes these are our first world problems.

And speaking of timing (which I wasn't really but it seemed like a good transition) we had planned to take our house off the market on the last day of October only to have a showing two days before and the people seemed interested. They have since quieted and we took it off last Thursday. And then we got a text from some friends saying they're in a bible study with a couple who might be interested in the house. I told them we'd only show the house to serious buyers at this point. Don't make me clean my house just for people to see what's out there! ;) They haven't looked yet so we'll see if they're serious. Otherwise the house is off the market till spring and we'll try again. It's somewhat of a relief. And at the same time I still laugh when I think of what we've packed up and are missing at the moment...

We are heading to Denver on Friday for a quick trip. A wonderful family friend passed away last week and we are coming up for the funeral. Mark was already going to be there for some meetings he needs to attend quarterly. Sad to have to go but happy to see friends and family.

I don't mean to sound like I am complaining. I apologize if it does. We just have a lot going on at the moment. We've had some fun things in the midst of busyness. We randomly headed to Cold Stone for an after dinner treat last week. The kids loved the surprise. We went to Farmington and spent time at Big Bounce. Lots and lots of bouncy houses for kids to run and play for hours! Mark and I snuck in a couple dates. The weather's been amazing! No one's been sick! We had a missionary from Cambodia visit the church last Sunday night and it was a great service. And I've been crocheting like a little old lady. I love doing it when it gets cooler out! Fun things in the midst of chaos!

That's it for this big, long post with no pictures. I'll try and do better next time.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Laundry, Lessons and Life

I realize it was last month that I blogged but I also realize that's way better than last year! Honestly there are seasons of life that just aren't blog-worthy. So I'll catch you up on things that may, or may not, be interesting to any of you. And I'll include pictures whenever possible.

Life has been going along. Mark started 2 classes last week. Since he started school he's done 1 8-week class at a time. Due to circumstances this summer, he was unable to finish one of those classes. In order to make it up and graduate on time, he has to take 2 classes for the next 8 weeks. Ya know, right at the start of our busy season. Oh wait, every season is our busy season ;) Mark will be doing two times the amount of reading, posting, responding and paper writing. It's gonna be a crazy 8 weeks!

Halloween was last week. We don't do a whole lot on Halloween but my kids love costumes and candy! And I love looking at all the adorable kids dressed up in their adorable outfits. We go out the day after halloween and buy costumes half price. The kids love dressing up all year so I say let's pay less one day later! I didn't get a shot of Kale as a ninja. That will come eventually.

But here is bat-girl. Stinkin' adorable!

And Spider-Man. Such a poser.

In spite of Mark being even busier, he's getting better and better at managing his time. Because he was a rock star this week, we got to go on 2 dates this past weekend!

One was out to dinner with some good friends. We enjoyed a glass of wine and a 4 hour animated conversation without children interrupting. It was fabulous!

Saturday night other friends watched our kids so Mark and I could enjoy dinner out together and a great concert. He took me to see A Tribute to John Denver. I realize not everyone might enjoy this as much as Mark and I did but we loved every minute. I said that the best thing about a tribute concert is that they play the greatest hits and not try and sell you a brand new album ;)

Today we're playing catch up. Gotta do all that we didn't do this weekend.

First dress up the poor dog. He came out of my room with this on and a look that said "save me from your children"

Kate and Jack like to play school with all their stuffed animals. Makes me smile :)

And this is how we catch up. Laundry and math at the same time. It's gotta be done somehow!

There ya have it!

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