Back Home!

Monday, September 2nd, might be the only Labor Day until Matthew retires that he doesn't have to work. With his vacation time to adjust back to Colorado time, we made the most of our Monday! Jay woke up the earliest, 1:45 AM and never went back to sleep until nap time. If you think about it, 1:45 AM was way sleeping in for him, 9:45 AM Germany time. Matthew was a trooper and got up with him, let him watch a show and they kept each other busy until Hugh and I woke up around 5. We spent the morning up in Lyons at Lavern M Johnson Park. The river was freezing, as usual, but lower flow than May. The boys loved the splashpad and we played there until the cousins all arrived. Jay was excited to play in the water and jumped right in, Matthew close behind and they even floated down the river together in Jack's tube. Jay thought it was the best! The boys rocked the playground, not surprising, and enjoyed being outside. I watched all the big kids, Jack, and Matthew jump off a big rock into a deeper part of the river. It looked cold and I definitely didn't want to join in. However, when I returned to watch more of the kids jump in, I realized I had no excuse to not join the fun! I am not nursing, pregnant, and had people to watch my kids. Younger Kitt would have been in the water the first time, so I decided to jump in. I was scared of the cold and a little about the jump, but it was awesome! Hugh crying and wailing from the edge with Katey made me move faster as I didn't want anyone to have to listen to his wails for too long. The cold water was refreshing as it got a lot hotter throughout the morning. We enjoyed our picnic lunch and came home for naps and to finish unpacking and settling back into home. Spending the morning with the Bryce's and the Merrill's was rejuvenating and filled us all with joy to be back near family! There's truly something special about being with family and we missed it while we were in Germany. 

Hugh jumping on a little pad that sprayed water when you jumped on it

Daddy, Jay, and Hugh - living their best lives!

Tuesday and Wednesday, Matthew was in turbo mode of getting all the things done he needed to before jumping back into work. It's not only work, but busy season work meaning his weekends and nights gone. He was driven and motivated to get to everything on his list, and I think he successfully made it! Because of his drive, we didn't take naps, capitalizing on all the free moments without the boys to do something. We installed blinds on the basement windows, set up his office in the basement, pulled out all the dead bushes in the front yard, pulled weeds in the front and the back, loads of laundry, fixed our master bathroom toilet that was running, and I cut all the boys hair. Hugh's hair was the hardest to cut. His tips were bleached from the sun and he had a beautiful sheen to his hair. Cutting it took all of that off and it made me more sad than I thought I would be. 

Matthew the plumber, he's learning many new skills and I'm impressed with his willingness to jump in and try to figure things out when he can.

One of the best things we did with our time was go to the Denver Temple for an endowment session. Grandma and Grandpa were gracious enough to watch our boys! Jay and Hugh were very excited when we arrived, and Jay already had Grandpa outside grabbing a suitcase for him by the time we left for the session. Being in the temple was wonderful! Three months is a long time without being able to go and we were very blessed we could go before jumping back to totally normal life. I loved being there with Matthew, remembering the promises we've made with each other and with Heavenly Father. Those promises are the most sacred promises and covenants I have made and I treasure them. Jay and Hugh did great for Grandma and Grandpa, according to the report. I think Grandma and Grandpa's time in Germany with us really solidified the relationship with the boys, especially for Hugh. Jay already loved them and still very much does! 

When you are gone for three months, you also come back to some issues. The first big issue we found was in our basement. I peeked under the vanity and saw water damage. Our brand new vanity, damaged. I lifted up a box of lights that was being stored under there and was horrified to find moldy water puddled beneath. I yelled for Matthew, so horrified! The faucet has been slowly leaking for a long time. Uncle came over the next day to take a look. He verified our suspicions of leaking and is willing to help us fix it and replace it. I've been working with the faucet company to get a refund for the faucet and some financial help with the damages. My sisters greatly encouraged me to reach out and see what could be done. I thought I was fighting a hopeless battle, but the faucet company is actually refunding the faucet and paying for a portion of the damages. It's a miracle and I am truly grateful. 

While Uncle was here, I asked if I could borrow his tin snips. He gladly obliged, but did the cutting and measuring all himself. I found a frame a few months ago and wanted to create a magnet board to display all of our magnets we've been collecting from various journeys. He used my frame as a measurement and cut it beautifully to fit within my frame! I later spray painted it black and began to think about how I could get the frame to actually hold the metal and where I wanted to hang it up! 

Sickness is also a curse that often comes with traveling and lack of sleep. Jay was still coughing from last week in Germany and it was getting worse. I was worried, so while I was at Hugh's well check, I asked the doctor about it. He wanted to see Jay, so we took him in later that afternoon to get tested for whooping cough. Because Matthew wasn't working, I was able to take Hugh to his well check and Jay to his sick appointment without the other kid. It was beautiful and so nice to only have one kid. They are both so much better behaved when they're the only one with me! We got an antibiotic prescription for Jay and luckily the results came back negative for whooping cough. However, on Friday, Hugh was developing a very bad cough. He was even wheezing throughout the day and I became concerned. I called the doctor's office and they recommended I go to Urgent Care/ER at Denver Children's Hospital. I left right at the start of naptime, hoping Jay would rest while Matthew was working. We were seen fairly quickly and got the diagnosis of croup. They gave him a steroid and told us to keep an eye on his breathing and come back in if the wheezing cough came back. Scary! I was worried about his breathing, which is why I took him in and then it continued to worry me. I am grateful for medicine and the power of the Priesthood. Hugh's doing much better now, still a runny nose and a cough but the scary croup breathing is gone. 

Other best parts of being home are playing pickleball and going to big grocery stores! Pickleball was just as fun as I remember, although it has brought some aches and pains I haven't experienced for a while. And, the grocery stores are amazing. I know what everything is and where everything is. Costco was a beautiful site, to be able to stock up on all the necessities in one place! I have this great craving to stock up on things after living three months almost day to day with things I needed from the store. I also put in an online orders to get what we needed from Sam's Club. It arrived leaving a big pile of cocoa powder on the ground. I cringed, knowing it might be really messy inside. I opened it outside and an entire container of cocoa had busted open and was all over everything in my box! Every nook and cranny, covered! Matthew was kind enough to leave his work for a few moments and help me clean things off. We had to wipe down everything with paper towels and then I sprayed them with canned air. I know the boxes still have cocoa powder inside, but at least the outsides of things are clean now. It was such a mess! I also have a unique desire to purge all the unnecessary things in my house! I feel like we have tons of toys, clothes, and unnecessary items. I truly should filter through things while I am less attached. We love having our backyard, a place where Jay goes and plays and entertains himself. Hugh loves going out too, but still wants company. Our basement, with the slide and the swing and the beanbag, it's a heaven for all of us to play around in, especially when it's hot outside. Our kitchen, with an oven and appliances, make it way more fun to cook and enjoy foods we haven't had in a while. We've already put our grill to use a couple times, enjoying freshly grilled burgers. I do miss the walk-ability of Germany. I realized this week that I miss walking! I miss the movement and getting energy out in a good way. I looked up how long it would take me to walk to one of the stores nearby and the map said 30 minutes. At that moment, I realized how much more spread out things are here! To walk 30 minutes and only get that far, crazy! My circle of walking was even smaller than I thought in Germany! We are very blessed to have two cars to get all the places we need here and we have many many blessings! We love playing in the back yard every afternoon, usually in the water because it's still very hot. 

Jay and Hugh loving the free pool we picked up off the curb this spring.

The first signs of cocoa dumping out of the box...