3 Birthdays and a Weekend Trip

February very well may go down as the craziest month of my life, but it's also been wonderful! The first weekend of February we decided pretty last minute that we would actually use the paid-for house hunting trip and fly down to Beaumont, Texas to get an idea of the area and try to find a place to live. I resisted going a lot because of the fact that we were leaving the very next weekend for Cambodia, and I hate leaving my kids so much and burdening other people. But Kenny really felt like it was important so we called Andy and Shalee and were so grateful that they were willing to help us out. Kenny had Friday off, so it made sense to go that weekend. Thursday, the 4th was my birthday. But we were so frantic trying to get everything done. Every day had been pretty crazy for a couple weeks as we were trying to take care of everything we needed to in selling our home here, before we left for 2 weeks. They scheduled our home inspection (without even asking when would work for us) for Saturday, when we wouldn't even be here. So we had to have everything perfect before we left. Imagine our surprise when on Wednesday night (our flight was scheduled for Thurs. night) Kenny went down into the crawl space and discovered there was a little bit of standing water down there, and we also had a mouse! To make a long story short, he ended up taking the next day off of work. So we woke up and immediately got to work and didn't really stop the whole day until the afternoon when we dropped the kids off and headed to the airport. But we got everything done that we needed to do, and left the house spotless for the inspection. But that was my birthday haha. Long day of working and cleaning, and then a red-eye flight to Houston (with our 1 year old) that night.

We had a great trip and it was actually really successful. We had been looking at homes for weeks online and already had a list of what we wanted to see. His company set us up with a realtor which was really helpful to have someone that knows the area. We landed around 6:30, (which is 3:30 for our time) and dropped off Briggs at my parents house, drove the 1.5 hrs out to Beaumont and met with our realtor. We literally spent the whole day going from house to house. We ended up making an offer on one and got it so we are very excited! It still has some work to be done and we'll probably add on to it, but it's a great house in the location we wanted. We feel so blessed at how everything is coming together. We went back for Briggs on Saturday afternoon when we were all done. It was fun to see Cami and her kids, and spend the night at my parent's house. We flew out early Sunday morning. It was a pretty whirlwind trip, but it served it's purpose so I was grateful.

Brynlee's Birthday was on February 9th! She turned 7 years old!!! She requested Pancakes with nutella, strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch, and her favorite chicken and dumpling soup for dinner, with brownies (instead of cake) for dessert. She had her violin lesson that morning and I tried to snag a pic toward the end even though her back was turned. (That other girl has a lesson right after Bryn, but Mrs. Davis always has Bryn stay a few more minutes so they can practice playing together since they're at the same level). That was her very last lesson with the fabulous Debbie Davis. We will miss her. She was very patient with Brynlee even when she lost focus a lot of times and gets tired, etc. She was wonderful with her. We hope to find a great teacher again in Texas. In the afternoon we went to Bouncin' Bears at her request and had a fun time there too. Brynlee is such a happy girl with so much enthusiasm for life and so much love to give. I love her pure and kind spirit!

We had to do balloons in ROY G BIV because she's slightly obsessed with rainbows :).

Tyler's birthday was on Thursday February 11th!! I still can't believe he's 9 years old!! I mean, where the heck did the time go? When he woke up and came downstairs he saw his brand new bike out on display for him. He hardly rode a bike at all this past summer because he had way outgrown it. He's very excited for warmer weather to be able to ride it more! I got up early to make some waffles (with all the same toppings Bryn had) for breakfast. I also hurried and made some rice krispie treats for him and Brynlee to take to their CC classes for their birthdays. There ended up being 2 other people at CC whose birthday was also that very day. Pretty funny! We had a great time at CC and went to Subway (his choice) for lunch. Came home and got to work on his strawberry cheesecake he wanted for his birthday dessert. Whatever happened to traditional cake? haha. Those box mixes are a dream! :). He also wanted manicotti and homemade breadsticks for dinner. I felt like I spent all day in the kitchen, but it made him happy! He loved his new nerf gun too. I was pretty horrible at taking pictures that day, but we did pull out the camera at night when daddy came home. So much fun celebrating all these cute kids! Can't get over how blessed I am to be their mother. I was thinking back to my first few days and months of being a first-time mom. I remember being so overcome when they first placed him in my arms, just as I am at every one of their births. I remember when he was just a few days old and it was night time, so I was laying in bed and he was in a bassinet next to the bed. He wasn't quite awake, but not in a deep sleep either and I laid there listening to all his little baby noises and I could visualize so clearly what his face looked like with every noise and movement. I was amazed at how well I felt like I knew him already, and yet I had only just had him! I get so nostalgic thinking back on how quickly time goes by and it reminds me to just soak up these days with these precious little ones. He's 9 years old now, and in another 9 years he'll be leaving on a mission and I just can't wrap my head around that one.

That night Tyler got to stay up late and go pick up Grandma Andersen at the airport!! We were so excited to have her come! It was a great birthday treat. It was nice to have her here as we finished getting everything ready for our trip and the little ones all got used to her.