Not so frequent flyers

Jon has been working for the airline industry for almost a year and we had yet to use his flight benefits.  With is birthday coming up, I began planning for a little vacation. It was time. We hadn't been away together since Jonah was a baby.  I called my mom who volunteered to watch the kids for a few days while we flew to the sunny island of Puerto Rico.

Talk about just what the doctor ordered.  The first thing we did was go for a walk on the beach and we concluded right then and there that if that's all we got to do the whole time, it was worth the hours of flying and short trip.

We visited El Yunque (the rain forest), sunned on the beach, ate good food, and walked Old San Juan.

On our way!

Walking around Old San Juan.

We especially enjoyed our ride.

Sunset on the beach. Nothing better.

Caficultura

Camera went crazy here. Caficultura was this awesome little cafe in Old San Juan with amazing breakfast.

"30...and happy!"

I turned thirty this January. I think I got most of my grieving out of the way before the big day and was able to enjoy the festivities and being spoiled without it being tainted by shock and disbelief.

A dear friend of mine turned 30 a couple months after me and I was impressed by her caption on an Instagram post which said, "30...and happy!"  It was a picture of her snuggling one of her kids.  I thought to myself, Oh yeah!  What do I have to be sad about? I've accomplished all I ever wanted to and more in my 20s.  My life is full of joy, beauty, and good and I can only be thankful.  So thank you, Chrissie, for your example.  I'm going to embrace getting older from here on out.

My sweet husband, sister, and mom surprised me with a dinner party full of good friends and family who all came to show love.  I had no idea what was going on and couldn't help but shed a few tears when I walked in and saw them all sitting there. I felt very special indeed.

Blessed!

Surprise visit from my mom

My birthday fortune

Movin' On In

My hopes were that we'd be in our new home before Christmas.  I couldn't get past the vision of us celebrating our first Christmas in our new home with nothing but paper plates and warm blankets. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who found this idea romantic. Most were naysayers and didn't want to be called upon to help us move before the holiday.  Well it didn't work out and we ended up getting the keys to our new home on December 28th.  Don't get me wrong. I agree that moving is the worst, and well, I guess I can see their point of view when they didn't have the novelty of the new house after moving all the crap.  So that's what made the hours of hard labor worth it.  We had our own home to come home to.

It didn't take long for everyone to settle in. Jonah and Sophie loved the idea of their own rooms.  The babies were so exhausted that they probably would have slept in the bathtub if we'd put them there with their blankets.  For the first few days we didn't have proper beds for the kids so we'd take the couch cushions and make them into beds and they had sleepovers until we could get things all set up.

The first few days and weeks were crazy and full of transition and a little drama (though not much) and we are forever grateful to our family and friends that helped pack, move, entertain kids, provided meals, etc.

We love our new home, and it feels like home.

Signing our lives away at the "closing".

Eloise and Pearl with "Mamou" watching for the moving truck.

We're homeowners!

The Joys of Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas at Jon's parent's home. It was a good way to end our stay with them.  We celebrated with all the traditional festivities: lights, stockings, presents, food.

This year we added a new tradition, one I'll have to fight hard to continue.  On Christmas Eve I prepared some treats and we chose a few families in the neighborhood to go caroling to.  Jon was NOT thrilled by the idea of singing what was basically a duet only feet from the spectators.  But he was a sport and pulled through for the kids sake.  The kids loved handing the treats to our friends and talking about Santa and the upcoming excitement Christmas morning was sure to bring.

Jon and I stayed up much too late helping Santa build toys and wrap presents and even helped him finish off his cookies and milk.  The reindeer decided to nibble the kids' gingerbread village, which they got a kick out of.

Cozy Coupes all around.

This pretty much sums up Sophie's attitude about sharing her new dollhouse.

"Link" with his new DS. Thrilled.

Photo courtesy of Jonah. Maybe I should give him the camera more often...

Home Building Progress Report

We've visited our home every week since we began and it's more exciting each time we go.  This time, the first floor was completely framed and the sub-floor had been put down for the second floor.  We could go up the stairs to see the view from our eventual second floor.  The kids wallowed in sawdust in the basement. 

It's been good for the kids to visit the house and get used to the idea of moving.  We have lived with Jon's parents for three and a half years now and it's really the only home they remember.  We moved here when Sophie was only 6 months old.  It will be a big change for them.

View from the front

View from the back

Pumpkins: Round 1

Mamou bought some pumpkins for the front porch and the kids immediately asked to carve them.  I kept telling them that if you carve them too long  before Halloween, they'd get rotten and we'd have to throw them out.  This didn't completely quench their desire so I compromised and got out the craft paints.  We only had one little pumpkin so I divided it into halves and let them paint it. 

The Leaves Are Falling

Tradition in the Bush family is to get out and hike once the leaves start changing.  We live in such a beautiful place where we can drive for 15 minutes and be in the most beautiful wilderness.  Our favorite spot is up South Fork off the Provo Canyon.  There are trails galore and the most colorful and beautiful foliage.

This year we picked a cloudy Sunday afternoon to go up and retrieve our car from the top of South Fork where I'd parked it the day before for a long run down the canyon with a friend.  It was the perfect excuse to take the family for a hike.  We packed a picnic, picked a spot by the river, and ate our lunch.  A few minutes after we began eating, the rain started pouring and luckily we were next to a pavilion and were able to wait out the storm before our hike.  We hiked for about 20 minutes before the rain began to pour again; this time it didn't stop.  We sought shelter in some trees while the kids whined and snuggled in, trying to stay dry.  I said, "Isn't this fun!! It's like a real adventure!"  They weren't convinced and I didn't hear the end of it all the way back to the car. 

A passing hiker took a few shots for us...not sure why my husband won't smile.

Handsome Jonah

Halloween Oreos for dessert!

The House Hunt 2012

Well, I never thought I'd say it, but we're finally looking for our first home!!  I honestly wasn't sure this day would come and now that it's here, we're overwhelmed, thrilled, and anxious to move forward.  We spent many evening hours searching online for homes that might fit our growing family.  We tossed different price points back and forth and really had to prioritize what was most important for us, location, house size, etc.  When it all came down to it, we decided to look in Eagle Mountain.  I have to say that it was not my first choice.  I had never been out there before and assumed it was (excuse my french) Hickville and too far from civilization.  Boy was I wrong.  We fell in love with a home being built there but the timing wasn't quite right and ended up waiting a few more months before we looked seriously again.  I've learned that Heavenly Father really does know best with the timing of things in our lives and once we got things in order and started the home search again, we found the perfect place!  We are building a home!

We visit our home in progress each week (and sometimes in between).  It's fun and exciting to see the changes and picture where we'll be putting our furniture, etc.  I've been dreaming of paint colors and styles and Pinterest has been my best friend all along.  The projected finish date has moved from December 1st to December 15th.  I imagine our first night in our home being Christmas Eve: stockings hung, kids nestled in their new rooms, waking up together in our very first home.  I can't wait!!

Front (Sept 20)

Back (Sept 20)

By the way, we're building a town home, so the entire structure you see there will be 4 different homes.  Ours is in the middle to the right.

The Last of Summer

We're trying to enjoy the last bit of summer and we've gone to the pool many times and have made many trips to get snow cones in the evening hours.  We wanted to take a bike ride one evening after dinner and since we've added 2 to our brood, we didn't have enough space to carry the little ones in our trailer (tried and failed).  A friend of mine let us use her Madsen bike.  It was quite fun and the kids loved it.

Mimi and Grandpa recently took a trip to Hawaii and sent back a prize for Sophie.  I had one of these when I was little and it brought back such memories!  She loves watching Lilo and Stitch and has practiced her "Hawaii Dancer" moves in this little number.

Kindergarten

Jonah started Kindergarten this August.  He was very excited to be in a new school even though he had to have shots beforehand.  Every time we discussed him going to Kindergarten he'd add, "But I have to have shots!"  Turns out, he had to have 4 shots and although he didn't like it, he fared just fine. 

We found out very last minute that he'd been accepted to a local charter school but I decided that it was too late to make a change since he'd already met his (amazing!!) teacher, Mrs. Adams.  She really is a wonderful  teacher and her reputation precedes her. 

The two years of preschool Jonah attended sure helped me prepare mentally for this big change.  I was ready and he was too.  I didn't even cry when I dropped him off!  So far, he is loving it and has made a lot of friends that he looks forward to seeing each day.