As we were getting settled & waiting for our household goods to arrive, Lorien got a job at the Subway next to her apartment complex at college. Of course it was Subway (her favorite!).
I couldn't help stopping by to see her in action her first week on the job.
She is working hard & saving money to help pay for school. I am so proud of her.
Here in Utah, you get your school pictures BEFORE school actually starts. It's so bizarre to me, but I understand that they want to have the student's photos on their school ID cards. My poor kiddos haven't had a hair cut in FOREVER & they were looking pretty shaggy. . . Bladen especially.
Look how cute he looks with his hair styled & short? What a cutie!
Our rental here in Utah is a little less than steller. It's fine for us, but it hasn't been well taken care of over the years, so we're trying to give it some TLC to make it work a little better for us.
Almost ever window in the house has holy blinds. The minute you open a window, all the bugs come rushing inside. It drives us insane because we are Germans & like to open our windows to let fresh air into the house.
So, Trek & the boys started to work. They watched some youtube videos & learned how to make blinds on their own so they build some blinds to replace some of the "holy" ones in the house. Now we can open up our windows whenever we want & it's glorious.
When we arrived home from our Sun Valley trip, we were SO excited to unload the UHAUL from Opa & Oma. When they moved from Southern CA to Northern CA, they got rid of a LOT of their things, but before they did, they asked the kids if anyone wanted to keep anything they were getting rid of. We asked if they would save a few things for us when we got back from Germany.
We wanted the rocking chair that crossed the plains with the pioneers, the antique bed from Europe, & the grey couch (because our couches are dead).
Bladen gets to use the antique bed. It's interesting because it's a European bed so it's not the same size as a typical twin or double bed. It's right in between. Eventually we'll need to get a European mattress to fit it, but a twin mattress fits inside with room on both sides. He loves it, even if the mattress doesn't fit perfectly. He said it makes him feel like a ruler or king.
We were all SO happy to have a couch in the house. After sleeping on the floor for what feels like months, having somewhere to actually sit was amazing. That couch was EVERYTHING to us during that time.
The other thing we brought back from Sun Valley was a horrible allergic reaction from a bug bite. Poor Craiger is like me when it comes to bugs. . . no matter how big or small the bug, when they bite, you swell big time. Poor guy got a bite on his cheek & was swollen for a full week!
Saturday, we got to sleep in a little bit (6:30 is sleeping in for me). I helped Oma make some crepes for breakfast & we all just kind of chilled in the morning.
Trek ran a total of 4 times on Saturday. He woke up at 5 so he could hike the mountain & watch the sunrise. Then he ran 1.5 miles with Canyon. Then he ran 5 miles by himself, & finally ran another 5 miles with Tylee once she woke up.
Everybody went river rafting for about 8 hours (4 hours on the boats & 4 hour of total driving travel time). I stayed behind because I'm a baby & am terrified of rafts & water. I stayed with Phoenix because she was too young to go rafting. This allowed their nanny to get to raft which was awesome because nannies need vacations too. I loved hanging with my sweet niece & it sounds like everyone had a blast rafting.
While they were on their rafting adventure, Phoenix & I got to do lots of puzzles, games, & playdough. We sang songs, read stories, & just had a blast together.
Once everyone was on their way back to the house, Tylee had me run to a local Mexican food place to pick up dinner. We got $250 worth of Mexican food & it was GLORIOUS. We had beans & rice, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, taquitos & flautas, enchiladas, & tostadas. Everybody loved it.
We mad smores again for dessert & while we made smores, a GIGANTIC MOTH flew into the house. We spent 30 minutes trying to kill this thing. . . from throwing shoes & work gloves at the ceiling trying to knock it down, to brooms, to blankets. . . Opa finally killed it when it landed on his pants. It was MASSIVE.
Tylee, Jeff, & Trek took a hike to watch the sunset over the mountains. It's SO beautiful there.
Sunday morning we woke up & made bullseyes for breakfast. We loaded up the van with our stuff, then swapped the UHAUL from Opa & Oma's car & hooked it to our van. Opa & Oma have been storing a couch & a bed for us for the last LOTS of years. It was finally time to bring it home with us. We said our goodbyes & started the 5 hour journey home.
It was SO wonderful to have a COUCH in our house after living on the floor for so long. And Bladen had an actual bedframe now which was nice. We were SO excited to start getting furniture in our new house. (Our stuff was still late, of course. . . not set to arrive until August 18th)
This trip was AMAZING. We loved being with family & just spending time together. Reunions are the best.
