Hotel Livin'

There were no TLF's (that's temporary living facilities- sorta like apartments for you non-military folks) available for us.  So we racked up some Hilton points at a hotel just outside of Sacramento.  It was supposed to be just a few days, but delays with the current tenants in the house and then the busy moving company pushed things back.  Living in a hotel leads one to do some crazy things.  Ben gave Rhone a hair cut-with scissors.  It was quite the style- haha.  We bought bath crayons and let Rhone play his little heart out in the shower.  We paid our 1st months rent, deposit, and pet deposit in cash from an ATM in the hotel lobby.  That my friends is a LOT of $20s.  I definitely looked like something shady was going down.  We did some shopping for the house and rounded up a fridge from craigslist.  There is nothing like moving to remind me that I can do hard things.  We wandered around stores to keep  ourselves entertained and get out for a bit.  Rhone acted like he had never been in a store before when we were in REI.  He was crazy in there, but he got a cool (old school) bell for his bike and Sylvie got a fun new sun hat.  And of course we swam every. single. day.  We didn't want to use up Ben's leave just sitting around in the hotel, so I rounded up some floaties for the kiddos and braved the pool by myself.  I am happy to say that everyone is still alive. 

Friday night they had a fun market and live music at the Fountains.  Rhone also scored some cotton candy (I think I might be able to get him to do anything for a piece of cotton candy)

They are starting to play together.  It's been so fun to watch their relationship grow.

The infamous hair cut.

We had our first in-n-out burgers ever.  Dare I say, that they are over hyped?

Ben swam into the pool stairs- I tell ya so long in a hotel with 2 kids does make ya crazy.

He loves to swim

Sun bathin' beauty

Rhone wanted in on the photo shoot

I am one lucky momma.  Seriously even when life is crazy, I am still so blessed and thankful for my kids.

Rhone and his shower artwork.  Bet they were happy to see us leave.

Winn-a-what-a?

We thought breaking up the drive between Idaho and Cali sounded like a good idea.  But once we made it to Winnemucca, we were less convinced.  The only vacancy we could find was in a pretty ghetto hotel/ casino.  We did manage to find (what I believe) to be the coolest things in town.  An amazing Basque restaurant called The Martin Hotel.  It was some pretty amazing food and a very traditional meal.  Too bad we had to do carryout so Rhone could run wild at the park.  We also found this super cool and super big motorcycle outside a bar.  Miss Sylvie got really sick that night with a fever.  We are pretty sure she had Roseola, but didn't discover that until her rash broke out.  We finished the drive into Cali through Grass Valley and looked at a few houses there before stopping into base.  Late that night we finally pulled into home sweet home for the next few weeks.  Life sure is an adventure!

Labor Day

Ben and I worked pretty hard on Labor Day to get the trailer all packed up again and ready for the drive to CA, while Rhone and Sylvie played with my family.  We celebrated with a fun cookout (too bad our dutch oven dessert was a bust) with our family.  It was a fun summer.  We are so blessed to have family that will take us in when we are homeless (and fatherless).  Having a military member doesn't just affect the immediate family, it goes much further than that.  I am so grateful for the support my family gives me.  We said our goodbyes and headed out Tuesday morning.

Look how big she is getting and great at sitting too.

Papa sent us off and Grandma Roser blew kisses from her front porch.

Goodbye to Idaho and sagebrush, hello to my view of the trailer for the next 12 hours.

Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys

Ben and Rhone had the chance to hit the trail with Ed for a morning.  Sylvie and I didn't want to miss all the action, so we rode up to the mountains to watch the boys saddle up.  Rhone had a great time.  Ben said he was a little chatter box the whole ride.  Poor Dusty (that's the horse) slipped back on the trail and gave the boys a little bit of a scare, but everyone was just fine and Rhone got right back in the saddle.  That's my boy :)  A big thanks to Ed for the ride.

Just checking out Dusty.

Please note that Sylvie is wearing jeans and boots for her brief horse ride.  Thanks Kate!

Daddy came back

We were in Idaho for over a month while Ben was busy house hunting in CA, packing up the rest of the house in DE and learning to fly a new plane.  We sure were happy to see him again!  We washed his truck (it was the first time he was seeing his anniversary gift) and of course made him a sign.  Then we got to work enjoying a few days together in Idaho as a family before heading west.

Rhone taking a break from clean up duty on our land.  I think he is pretty adorable in his carhartts and gloves.

The beautiful world

It was time to cut the hay while we were home so Rhone spent hours in the swather with Papa.  Driving through the field provides an amazing view of God's Creation.  I was also able to take the kids to the Brigham City Temple open house.  It was so beautiful and Rhone did a pretty good job showing reverence and respect. 

Just keep swimming

The kids and I went swimming at Ross Park twice this summer.  Once we met Brock after school.  I felt a tiny bit like super mom taking both kids around the lazy river by myself.  We went again with my whole family after Ben got home back from training in Georgia.  It was such a fun afternoon with the whole family.  We are blessed. 

We call them brother-cousins.  They have so much fun together

Look at those feet pushing up the water

Papa and Daddy- Rhone was in heaven!

Nana and her GG

Being brave and making their ways across the lily pads

They just CAN NOT get enough of their Papa.

Friends

One of the best parts about heading home is catching up with friends.  I have been able to meet up with friends from high school, college, and air force friends...I can't believe how fast time flies.  First we meet up with our AF friends from DE.  We were able to meet their sweet little Reese for the first time.  Rhone LOVED seeing his friends again.  Next I saw my college friend Jenna.  We met up at the Museum of Clean in Pocatello.  It was such a fun and iteresting place.  We even met Don Aslett who owns the museum.  Our time together just flew by. 

Rhone loved this hand ringer and did it again and again.

We also recieved a super sweet package from our DE friends.  Rhone is showing off his new super hero cape.