Mimication...

  Lone Pine came to an end and the boys took off for Elk Hunting. So my Mom took the kids and I on a trip to the coast. The kids called it a "Mimication". We left Thursday after Austyn got done with school and headed over to Driftwood shores. When we got there we were informed that the pool was closed 😩. So we decided to head up the coast to Newport and see if we could find something similar there. We hit the jackpot! We stayed at The Halmark. It was absolutely amazing. It had a fireplace in the room and an amazing restaurant attached to the hotel. We had room service for dinner that night. It was soooo much fun! We swam and watched movies and had popcorn. The next day we played on the beach, went to the aquarium, walked down town Newport in our t-shirts, then headed back to Driftwood Shores for a night. We played on the beach forever since the weather was absolutely perfect and then went to the pool. They have the best kids swimming pool. Quade and Austyn had so much fun. It was such a great time going with my Mom and finally getting to relax and hang out with her after a long Lone Pine season. 

  The boys had a successful yet disappointing trip. They got an elk, but couldn't find it until the next day and the meat was bad by the time they tried cutting it up. It was so sad. 

  Austyn has started reading! It's so exciting to see the excitement in her eyes. It was amazing to see the moment when it clicked in her brain that she could read. And we've been readin non-stop ever since. So so cool. She picked up my Christmas list for the kids and started sounding the words out. It caught me by surprise as I ripped it out of her hand. Nothing is sacred anymore. 

  Quade is a crazy man. He is more boy than the last time I wrote a blog about him being incredibly all boy. He loves watching Old Yeller, he even says that he is the little boy in the movie. He creates the most imaginable stories lately. He is loving all things with wheels or guns and weapons. He has the most incredible amount of energy. 

  Jordan is doing No Shave November, so he has a nasty mustache right now. He works Thanksgiving this year, so we will be spending Thanksgiving at my Aunts and then go visit him at the fire station. Since Lone Pine is over Jordan has had a few spare moments here and there to finish up unfinished projects that have been waiting for him. He made Quade an amazing shelf for all this toys. And he helped me with a clock. He is working on organizing the garage right now. Seems like things just pile up a lot easier in a small space. We are use to the nice big shop at our old place. Jordan found an amazing deal on some fill dirt for our future shop site. We had hundreds of truck loads delivered and it looks awesome. We are so excited to be on the path of building a shop. It probably won't be for a couple years, but it's a start. Jordan's back is all better now. He is continuing physical therapy just to get proper body mechanics and continue his core strengthening. 

  As for me, I'm preparing to turn "30" in a couple weeks! Can't believe it. I'm loving the idea of being "30". Jordan on the other hand is struggling with the fact that he will be 30 in a few short months. It cracks me up. I had such a great time with the kids over Halloween. I'm so excited for Christmas with them! Jordan has me going to his same physical therapist for my back. My back has continually gotten weaker over the last year. I get so use to the pain because it's so gradual that I don't notice it until I really think about it. So I'm working on that at the moment. I found out that my pelvic floor has completely stopped working and the strength in my hips are a 2 out of 5. Not good. So I've got a lot of work to do. I'm not excited about the process, but it's time to start feeling better. Other than that, everything is going great as usual. Very thankful for our amazing life and that we are blessed in every way imaginable. I'm very excited for Christmas!!!

  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and and even better CHRISTMAS!