Mom's trip to Cali

I got to spend a long weekend with Jodi and Stella and their new addition, Benson, when Trevor abandoned them for baseball.  Or Golf.  I forget now (the problem with waiting too long to update the blogs).

It was a nice weekend, I think I was helpful.  It was warm and sunny.  And, I got to hang out with a little baby that I wasn't responsible for.  Being an aunt is a pretty good gig.

Halloween

School parties, parades, block parties, trick or treating, and of course, the annual pumpkin decorating contest.  2016 style

Picasso

Attempting to do something 'fun' and 'different' Justin and another friend of ours planned a surprise date night.  For the record, I like dinner and movies.  So, despite my protests, we went and did something fun.  

Turns out, I liked it.  A lot.  And, turns out, I'm not half bad as an artist.  Okay... that's a stretch, but it didn't turn out too bad.  I have a creative side.  As long as sometime tells me exactly how to do it.  

Christmas 2015

I have a lofty goal to get 'updated' on the blogs before the end of the year, or at least the first part of January.  There's been a LOT of stuff that has happened, so we'll see how far I get.

We started Christmas at Grandma Naylors with the Lafeens.  Back to our house with Grandma and Grandpa Lafeen at our house.  The kids got new bikes, which was awesome.  Along with more than a few other gifts .

Christmas this year was somewhat low key, or so I thought.  I'm not sure if it was any more relaxed or simplified.  Santa surprised the kids with a weekend in Disneyland.  We leave January 7th, 3 days in the parks, and fly home on the 11th.  I was a little worried that the 'delayed gratification' (waiting 2 weeks) would make it less exciting, but it was still fun Christmas morning.  Kate is probably the most excited, and it might be because she went to Disneyworld earlier this year and has a better memory or expectation.  Either way, the kids are going to love it, I'm sure.  We're also super excited to be going with Scott and Denise, and April and her boyfriend.

After that we headed to the Hardcastles for brunch and gifts.  Kate got into scone making this year. 

A few days later we drove up to the new cabin in Alpine, WY for the Gough Christmas.  The kids love playing with their cousins, we had an awesome crab leg dinner and opened gifts.  Lisa had been sending hints for the past two weeks about what our gift would be, and it did not disappoint.  The only problem will be Justin and I arguing over what city we're headed off to watch the Red Sox play.  Well, less arguing, and more just convincing Justin that we're going to Fenway, and decide on a good weekend.

We went on a very beautiful, but VERY cold sleigh ride out of Jackson Hole to the Elk refuge.  The kids really enjoyed the first 30 minutes or so.  Unfortunately it went on for an hour.  So we had a few whiny and cold kids for the last bit of the trip.  It was a nice, relaxing trip with family, I just love it when the cousins get to play together.

How to Cope

My preferred method of coping with most stressful situations is to sleep.  Ignore.  Compartmentalize.  Sometimes it is to find out as much information as possible, so that it becomes less personal and more logical, or distanced from myself.  Sleep and ignore are, by far, my favorite.

To be honest, it's not really a bad plan.  Most situations or conflicts can be solved by a good nights rest, or just forgetting about it for a while. (My husband would disagree with me, but that's another post entirely).   Don't we usually worry ourselves over every little thing, that usually is just that -little and insignificant?

There are obvious exceptions to my usual methods.  And, because I'm a responsible and dependable person, I don't handle a lot of things that way.  I show up, get my job done, ask for help, delegate.  I do have other resources.

But some things are just out of our control and up in the air, and not conclusive, and so damn personal that it's impossible to ignore.  Or sleep away.  Or create a space in your brain for it to just sit, so that it doesn't affect the other parts of your life.  No amount of research, google searches, talking to specialists, planning, wondering, playing out what-if's in your head will make it go away.  And, there's no foreseeable time in the near future that things will go 'back to normal'.  You worry about what will become the 'new normal'.  And how that will affect your life from here on out.

So, for now.  I'm going to find the strongest sleep aid I have, which isn't very strong, I'll be honest.  And fall asleep watching something on netflix that is funny or cute, or so far from real life that it won't matter.

Jackson Hole 2015

Jackson Hole with the Hardcastles.  

We were missing a few key players, namely my mom, who was in California, because Jodi happened to deliver Benson (on Milo's 3rd birthday -cousin twins) a week before the Jackson weekend.  Justin was at the Navy College too, so it was me and the kids on our own.  Well, on our own, with my dad, Gordon and Jessica, Grandma Hardcastle, and eventually Matt and Jenny & Charlotte.  

This lady had plastic dinosaurs zip-tied to her car.  And showed the kids the inside of her car, which was also full of dinosaur stickers and pictures.  It was... strange.  

We drove up Thursday afternoon.  Friday morning we went to the outskirts of town for breakfast.  It was a beautiful weekend, and warmer than it had been for years.  We went to Signal Mountain to hang out by the lake and take Grandma to her condo (she stayed at ours in Teton Village the first night).  

I'm not sure how many rocks Gordon ended up stuffing in Charlotte's back pack before Matt noticed.  But, it was a lot.  

The kids and I saw a moose on our way back to Teton Village hanging out right next to the road which was cool.  

Saturday morning I did what no parent should do, and woke up the kids before 6 am and went into the park to see and hear the elk.  We were pretty successful, and it was a good morning.  

The kids were much more interested in throwing rocks in the puddle than watching the Elk in the distance.  

On our way to the campground to meet the rest of the family for breakfast there was a huge elk crossing the road right next to the road.  

Jenny Lake was a picture that morning.  

The kids had their primary program on Sunday, and I didn't want them to miss it, since we had just moved in, so I left with them Saturday afternoon.  I was a little nervous about the drive home (bathroom breaks being the biggest concern) it went great and we made good time.  

I'm imagining next year will have a LOT more little babies! 

 What we saw when we pulled into the condo.

 Our view from the balcony.