YAY!

For those of you that actually read the TMI posts, I have started! YAY for me! Anywho just thought I would update for everyone who was biting their nails!

Horrible No Good Day

You know some days are just destined to be bad... and people I had one of those days on Friday.... SO first of all, I was trying to fix our door handle on our front door, only to discover it was broken AND I had a sweet neighbor come to check on us to make sure we were all right, apparently apartment 132 had had an attempted break in and they wanted to make sure we were all right, I assured him that we were and told him I couldn't figure out this dang door knob and he went home to put his dog inside and came back with a screw driver, he tried to help but alas we discovered that it really was broken so I decided to head off to Home Depot.
Now before I go into that I need to catch ya'll up, Lauren (Hope's sister) had offered me a very part time job at the fitness spa she works at down town, and because I could take Leland with me I took it, it sounded like a super deal and it was however Friday morning I woke up with this doom and gloom feeling.... Anyway Lauren had called Thursday evening and asked me to come in at 1 which was an hour earlier and I said I would be able to do that, Leland normally goes down for a nap when we have plans in the afternoon at 10 and sleeps for a bit, so this door knob business was cutting into nap time and I started to get even MORE nervous about this job.
SO like I said I was off to Home Depot, and when I got there I threw my keys in the diaper bag, got out of the car shut my door, and went to get Leland out... ONE PROBLEM, all of the doors were locked and I left my diaper bag inside... I panicked had no clue what to do, so I asked a lady in the parking lot if she had a pen I could borrow, because I thought ok call a locksmith type thing, well she asked a Home Depot employee what we should do and he came running over and said we call 911 and before I had my phone out Ron was on his phone with a 911 operator. Leland was playing with Ron the whole time he was on the phone, and this is when I LOST it, I just started balling, and I couldn't stop, what kind of mother locks her baby in the car???? So the fire engine came and the ambulance came and they got Leland out after being in there for like 25 minutes, and he passed the EMT's inspection although he didn't want to come to me, he thought those fire fighters were pretty cool at this point Vince (another Home Depot employee) had brought us out a water bottle and was making sure I was ok and that they had gotten Leland out of the car. To make the whole situation more stressful though a woman who had all her kids parked and let them get out to see the fire truck, or possibly to see what was going on. But it seriously stressed an already stressed me out.... And we still hadn't gotten our door knob so I still had to go inside and get that, and I got lucky because Vince helped me find the aisle and who was in the aisle but Ron and he helped me pick out a door knob that was not too expensive and that would fit our door. I had called Hope at this point to ask her to call Lauren and tell her that I wasn't going to be in since i was having such a bad day, and Lauren texted for me to call her, so I did and she said go home have a rest and then come in, and I tried to explain to her that I was at my limit, I didn't think I could handle training, I can't even talk to anyone without tearing up.
At this point I remembered that we needed milk so I went over to Costco, got milk and waiting for Brian to go on Break, I recounted it to Brian and he of course was like well the Home Depot and Costco are so close you could have just called my work and I would have booked it over there to open the door, and I was like DUH that would have been the easiest and best option but I WAS PANICKED not thinking as clearly as I should have been.... just a thought there. So I got a text right before I was leaving Costco and it was Lauren asking me if I wanted the easy out, and if I didn't think the job was going to work. To which I thought, no I really don't think it is, I have to drive downtown twice a week for 3-4 hours each shift, I honestly don't know if it is worth it. I will have to keep looking and i told her thanks for thinking of me, and now I just hope she isn't upset with me. So we got home and I decided that Leland and I would nap together on my bed ( I mean I am still feeling terrible about locking him in the car, so naturally I want to be REALLY really nice to him) and I go to change his diaper, which had pooh in it, I get him all cleaned up and he chucks the clean diaper across the room, I go to get it and when I return there are little rabbit poops ALL over... SO he got to sleep in his crib.... Oh and while the Home Depot guy Ron was on the phone with 911 he broke the door handle off of the back passenger side door. I am however lucky enough to have found a replacement part that only cost 30$ and I hope my friend James will be able to replace it for us, I will of course pay him for his time... but that was my most horrible no good day thus far friends.... I am thankful it is over...

Forgot to mention some of California:D

As I use this as my journal I forgot to mention the fun times to be had. We did the Zoo twice (I love the San Fran Zoo) there is something about it that is so wonderful, maybe its just that I am with family when I go. We went to the beach twice once was to meet up with my Uncle Bob and his family the first time, which is when we discovered that Leland hates sand... if you need proof... this is at the Zoo though not the beach, but it is the same reaction where ever we go with sand. I discovered that it may not just be sand but when the ground moves too much, because the gravel at the park in Ridgeway Colorado, also caught him off guard. We had a talent show on Sunday and Maddy's coin trick was probably my fave, she had us all close our eyes and then we heard ping, she had tossed the coin and it bounced off the tile and when she had us open our eyes she said Ta da... and dad stepped on the dime that had landed in front of him so it would be a good surprise still. She is a crack up. Eli's was also a fave when he sand "tell me the stories of Jesus" and ended it with tell me the stories of Eli... pretty dang cute kids if you ask me. We went for a drive up to castle rock, but didn't get out as there were too many other visitors and no parking for us. Although we stopped a little way down to let some of the kids out to stretch their legs.

We discovered while at the zoo that Preston makes a beautiful butterfly
and Eli makes an intimidating spider and Uncle Adam is a seriously good sport, here he is being the leaf man at the SF Zoo.

Leland has no fear of the animals

would make an awesome cowboy....

And that Leland missed his daddy a little too.Before the rest of the gang got to the house, Emma came down with her family and we hung out Maddy wanted to put on a puppet show and soon the whole gang was involved I don't know how thrilled she was about it though, take a look at her face....Poor Porter had the full tea kettle fall on his foot, he was a trooper through it all though.

And I am convinced that Mom had this sink put in just so she could keep bathing her grandbabies in the kitchen sink! It is a great bath tub even for Tank's bum!

We had a bounce house one day, and I never realized how fun those were, we had to spray it down with water because the blue parts of it would burn ya if you landed on them. I jumped with Eli and Leland and Maddy who told me where to go and what to do, sadly I didn't get any pictures of the bounce house but I am sure Annie did, she is an excellent picture taker. On that day we also did sno cones and that was super fun we had Tamera over for those. And of course there was swimming and laughing and bonding between the cousins and their parents. It was so great to get to see everyone and spend time with the family, we truly are blessed to have such a great one!

On a side note, Amy has this fabulous game of charades of types where everyone writes down three names and you fold them up and put them in a bowl, the first round you can say/ act out whatever you want, the second round is the one word round where you have to describe them in one word or less, and the third round is all actions. We had played this at her house over this last new years and we all have mom's beloved actions for Tiger Woods down (rwar) but this time around we had Mr. Bean and I seriously could not think of one word so I said Lentil, Amy and Mom just looked at me like I had just given them the worst clue ever, and I will admit it stunk, but Emma would have gotten it if she was on my team. This then lead to our discussion of Fiddler on the Roof because Amy was sure that there was a daughter named that, mom of course corrected her, and we all had a good laugh. Later that night I got a text from Annie and all it said was Lentil, its a good thing I can laugh at myself!

Ouray Colorado

We went and spent some time at my Uncle Jim's Cabin in Ouray Colorado, and that is some beautiful country. We did one short hike (which I was pretty sure would have killed me at that altitude but I managed it.) The hike itself was memorable as it was to Box Canon falls, The hike down to the falls wasn't that bad, it was fairly short and all down hill, until the way back, it had probably 6 flights of stairs, which winded me but it was really cool down there so I survived, then we decided to hike up to the top, so we could look down on where were just were. I should have known when I had to go up 6 or 7 MORE flights of stairs that this hike was not great for someone who didn't work out a whole lot. Brian Jr teased me the entire time, which made me even more thankful for my in laws Brian Sr and Cindy who seemed to be a little more aware that this was something that was hard for me to do. Anywho we made it to the top, with my face beet red, and enjoyed the view and my personal favorite the nice breeze that was blowing through the canyon. One of the days there we went to Silverado, and enjoyed a mine tour, which was nice and cool, and it was interesting to see how they mine hard rock, its different from coal mining, well not that i know anything about coal mining, but the tour guide did share some of the differences. It was pretty awesome and if I do say so myself Leland made one dang cute miner!
We went over to Telluride because they had a free gondola ride and we wanted to see what it would be life if The Hamiltons wanted to go back that way to ski sometime. It was a gorgeous ride, but I am not much for heights so Brian jr. again teased the whole time, and may have had his life threatened a few times. Leland loved it, he especially liked to be sitting on his own bum, we tried to get him to stand up so he could see better but it looks like he may have some of his mom in him as he refused to do so.

Brian Jr took advantage of some free rock climbing, I mean it wasn't very impressive seeing as it was for little kids but he did an excellent job climbing, the getting down was a little harder:D

Other than that we just hung out around the cabin, Brian Sr took Brian Jr fly fishing for one of the days, they had a guide and everything so it was a fun experience. Cindy and I shopped and enjoyed a "scrap" cookie from Chocolate Mouse Bakery (they take all their leftovers from truffles and candies and bake them into a cookie, we got one that had TONS of Carmel and it was DELICIOUS!) We enjoyed watching for Shelly the deer that came and laid off to the side of the patio and the breath taking views from around the cabin! It was super secluded and really really nice! We couldn't have had a better time!

Gene and Leland

Its not really just Gene Leland also LOVES his Aunty Quynh (did I spell that right) Leland preferred them over me, and I am not going to lie it was FABULOUS! Gene and Leland played outside after church on Sunday and it made me wish they were closer to us! Gene followed Leland around on a scooter, pushing the bike Leland couldn't yet pedal they played with wiffel balls, and Leland learned the phrase I got it. Sunday's at Mom's are so nice, we go to church then come home have an easy lunch and then get to play with the cousins. Majel is such a good helper, and she loves littler kids, she followed Leland around and wanted to be there helping whenever I had anything to do with Leland. Cienna and I made those bead things that you melt with an Iron.. I cannot believe how grown up she is. She amazes me! Ethan actually warmed up to me this time, the last time he wouldn't come close to me! Gene's kids are all so much fun we really did have a nice time playing together and hanging out. I am going to miss them tons and tons and I hope they write! I had to take my mom to the airport the following day as she was flying to Texas to help Amy on her road trip to California, which meant I got to see some great friends from high school (Christina and Laura) and then I headed up to Emma's house. Her little Preston is a DOLL! I could just hold that baby all day!

Thank a soldier..marine....

I flew out to California alone and I was pretty panicked because I had a layover, and if any of you know my Leland you know he has a Strong personality. Its far better to fly straight with him because if you switch it up even a little it's "over." so as I walked my son in the Denver Airport telling myself "he can "smell" your stress" I found it hilarious all the comments that I got on his "monkey" keep your mind out of the gutter folks, its his harness, yes I know harness are so mean, and blah blah blah, Phuleez.. I LOVE this thing! Except for when I yelled at him in the bathroom to stop touching stuff and just touch his monkey... but I digress. I noticed we had a high number of military men. I was nervous because a. I would look like i had no control over my son, b. it would be in front of men and woman who thrive on control, and c. I was worried about offending them, yes a dumb thing to feel but whatever.... My luck improved and I was sitting next to a wonderful man, his last name was Jensen and he was in the army as high up as you could go in his field ( I have no clue what it was but he had like seven titles) He was meeting his soldiers and taking them to train at a base in California. He was WONDERFUL! And Leland Adored him! He let Leland sit on his lap so he could look out his window, and played with him, and it was so fun to see. I have never been so thankful to a soldier as an individual as I was right then. Jensen was fantastic! The marines on the plane were not in uniform, but were also helpful, Leland took off up the isle (it was only a 13 row plane) and one of the marines yelled out "hey so and so, grab that kid for us" it was a pretty amazing flight and I feel truly blessed. Jensen walked me out, and made sure I had help at the baggage claim ( my pops had come to pick me up and parked so he could help me out!) Thank you to the men and women who not only serve our country and keep us safe and free, but to those that go above and beyond and help us civilians when we feel like we just can't do it on our own!

I'M HOME

Folks I am home from my month long of shanangins...!!!! And I forgot to bring my picture card, so I didn't blog while I was away, I suppose I will have to catch up but I just wanted to let everyone know I'm Alive! Happy 4th! I hope ya'll had a wonderful day!