Allergies or something else?

So lately i've had allergy like symptoms red eyes, itchy nose, runny nose, headaches. I've been attributing them to allergies, Kendal has started to get the same symptoms too. At first i attributed Kendal's issues to a small cold, then i thought she might have allergies like me. I haven't been able to figure out what around here i could be allergic to until i realized that i'm surrounded by smoke. There are currently two big forest fires going on in Merino and Halstead. Meaning Challis is surrounded by forest fires. Since we've moved in there has been smoke and it hasn't gotten any better. I keep hearing that it should clear once the seasons turn and by winter we'll be good. I decided to look up how forest fire smoke can affect ones health. Low and behold i've found all of my and Kendal's current symptoms. So i guess i'll limit my family time outdoors even more, and hope that the smoke clears out sooner than expected. Till then we get to feel like we have allergies for a few more months.
On other news . . . This past weekend we decided to make a trip down to Raft River for our Nephews and Niece's first birthday celebration. Jaxson and Hunter were born last year on September first and our neice Rebecca joined the family a week later on the seventh. All were born early, but they're all doing wonderfully. The evening of the party we were all going to eat outside at the Steadmans water slide. Little did we know that our plans would have change. A couple of hours before the party there was severe thunder storm warnings with possible tornado action. We looked outside and didn't think much of it. However, as the party drew closer so did the Storm and the news telling us to take cover and go into the basement. We were nervous because we had family traveling from different directions right to the area of possible tornado activity. My heart was skipping beats because all around us looked pretty threatening; fortunately nothing major happened and we just got a wicked storm blow through our way. We had a good party for the kids in Grandpa Webb's garage. (yes, i'm kicking myself for not taking the camera; sorry) It was a good short trip to see family especially since we won't see them again until Christmas time.
So onto another week in Challis. Casey is back to work after the labor day weekend, and i'm home with the kiddles.

p.s.
Tomorrow my Dad gets to celebrate his birthday. The family is going to the Brigham City Temple open house and Maddox. I'm wicked jealous and wish we could be there also. Have fun my dear family and eat extra rolls for me. ; )
Happy Birthday to a wonderful Dad, and a fantastic Grandpa! We all love you so much!
/ Casey, Marianne, Kendal, & Peter

O deer

I knew moving to Challis meant that i would be in hunting / fishing territory; however i never realized how much i would be seeing deer around my home. Everyday we see deer around our neighborhood, and hanging out in our yard / lot. We have an apple tree and a lot of lawn for the deer to feel welcome, they also love to hang out on the field part of our lot that's next to the house. Kendal loves having the deer around. Casey has taught her that the ones with antlers are the boys / dad's, the ones without are girls / mom's, and the little ones are fawns (Kendal insists their babies). Casey doesn't mind the deer and likes to count them and see how many there are out there at once. I'm not thrilled to have them roaming freely, eating the apples, and leaving their scat on the yard, but alas it is what it is.

(Jordan you're welcome to come anytime)

Casey survived his first week of teaching. He's had a lot to do putting together his classes and lessons from scratch. Two of his classes are also being transmitted to a few other schools in other areas so he has to figure out how to get their homework / assignments and work with the system. He had a training on Friday to know how to run the program. The training normally takes 14-16 hours. The instructor shoved it into 4 hours for Casey so he could be ready for the class asap. He's got so much to do, and spends so much time at school and at home making sure he's ready for school.  I am wicked proud of his hard work, and i know he's doing awesome.

We met with the bishop this past Sunday. After only two weeks in the ward Casey is now Sunday school president. I was told my calling is coming, but they understand i have an infant that needs my attention for the present time. From what we understand there are many members in Challis, but a good chunk of those members are not active. Plus any active members who work at the mine can only attend every other week. The bishop was saying that they pray for people like us to move to Challis. (Another way of saying God has his hand in all things) Casey isn't super excited with the calling at such a busy time in the school year, but again he can and will do a wonderful job.

My days revolve around Kendal and Peter. Kendal always wants to play with her brother (which means poking / smothering with love) and play games (she has figured out how to get into her favorite game on the computer and play most of it by herself). Pete has discovered his tongue this week. (Sorry, no more roll overs yet) He is also getting quite social giving lots more of smiles and cooes.

Pete loves his tub time (until we take him out and he's wet and cold)

We were giving Pete tummy time and he fell asleep : )

 

The Next Chapter

Last Wednesday we loaded up the trailer to move to Challis. Before we left we took Peter to his two month appointment with the doctor. Pete is growing and doing well. He now weighs just over 11 pounds (gaining a lot better than Kendal did), and he is 22 3/4 in. tall. Pete had to get shots so he didn't have an awesome day, but still did pretty well. Kendal got to travel up to Challis with her Grandparents and Aunt. We arrived to find about half a dozen deer roaming around the houses in our area. With a lot of family help we moved in. (A million thanks to our family members who traveled here to help us unload and get settled into our new place!) We've had a lot to prepare this past month in moving and have had a lot to do as we got here, it's been overwhelming at times, but luckily we've had each other and a wonderfully supportive family. We are settled in for the most part and doing well. Kendal likes our new place, however she keeps getting into things she shouldn't (probably because we're still putting things away and we need to put thing out of her reach). Kendal understands we've moved to Challis, but she has a hard time with the fact that we can't go and visit family whenever she wants to. Our ward is small but very friendly. The second counselor in the ward is Casey's superintendent, the ward clerk is the Elementary principal, and there are some teachers in the ward too. (It worries me a little though when the relief society president says she got her calling after being in the ward only two weeks)
Casey got his teaching schedule just this past week, and he starts teaching the kids tomorrow. He will be teaching two World history classes, two finance classes (different levels), a current events class, and he has a tech hour. In one week Casey has had to tweak the previous teachers world history classes, and create the entire curriculum for his three other classes. His tech hour will be devoted to learning every new technology for teaching (i.e. smart board, tablets, i-pads, advanced projectors, etc.) he gets to master each of these and them help the other staff members learn to better use and incorporate them into their own classes. Casey has also agreed to coach the JV basketball team starting in November. Casey has a lot on his plate this year, and I'm very proud of him for taking things head on and doing his best.
I'm still getting used to dear roaming my yard (there are three little fawns and a doe outside my window as i write this) and how small Challis seems. We went grocery shopping the other day and i laughed on the inside how different shopping is going to be. Prices on milk, fruit, and meat are higher up here, and i was surprised they don't sell ground beef at more than a pound at a time (i then realized i'm in hunting area; so these people eat what they kill. Not for me : / ). Casey and i were setting up his classroom yesterday and it was getting late. It was different not being able to just go somewhere and order a quick bite to go, but Challis doesn't really offer that. There is one small subway in the grocery store, the two motels have small restaurants in them, and the bowling alley has a small grill. There are also two small pizza places, but nothing like Pizza Hut or Little Caesars.
Some things the kids have been up to in the past few days.  Kendal has really been into games lately, she wants to play "big people games" aka board games. We tell her she's too young, but she insists on playing so we've taught her a simplified version of uno and a couple of other kid games like trouble and matching games. Yesterday when Kendal should have been taking a nap she started calling for help, then screaming for help. I went in to find her stuck in Pete's crib. She wanted to play the music on his mobile and got herself stuck. I also found her in the pack n play with Pete. : / She's definitely a girl, and lately can get emotional over the silliest things, but we're working with her. Pete still gives sweet smiles, and cooes. I've even got a couple of small chuckles out of him too. He likes to stand and his neck seems so strong for a two month old. Yesterday Pete rolled over during tummy time. I know it was a fluke, but we thought it was sweet.
Well both kids are now awake so i better end for the day. Enjoy the pictures below. Kendal looking out the window with ducky (later placing him on the window seal for the day), Kendal trying to carry Casey's backpack - she fell over less than a minute later, Pete giving sweet smiles, and Kendal and Pete together : )

Reunion / Moving

We went up to Idaho this past weekend for the annual (extended family) Darrington reunion. The reunion was at the Raft River water slide (no surprise there). We went up Friday afternoon, a storm was blowing through as we arrived so it delayed the fun, but we let the kids play at grandmas for a while.  Kendal and David went out to play in the sandbox before we headed to the slide. Little did i know that they were pouring scoops of sand over each others heads. We had to vigorously brush, then give them a bath with a heavy shampoo before we left. Saturday brought lots more family and loads of fun. Kendal got to play on the swings, go down the big slide, play in a kiddie pool, and best of all play with her cousins and Casey's extended families children. Casey's cousin Travis had a baby there that is a week younger than Pete. His name is TJ, he is a good sized little dude, and has hair just like Pete. We had the two boys on the floor by each other and Kendal exclaimed that they were the same. She was delighted by the fact that they were so similar. Pete got loved by a lot of family at the reunion. He had a good time except for the darn wind making it harder for him to breath and nap well. We always enjoy the reunion and seeing Casey's family. It was a fun weekend.

On another note. We are in the middle of getting ready to move. Our house is a mess of boxes and piles right now. Luckily we got about 90% packed before we went to the reunion. We will move this week to Challis, and Casey will start school next week. It's still a crazy time. Casey is not 100% sure as to his schedule of what he is teaching : O , we've never physically seen the house we're renting, and there are other little hiccups we've run into like changing our postal address on almost everything only to find out we have to wait and get a PO box when we get there.
It's going to be hard leaving Logan. I've grown up here, i have family here (it's a place that i know and love). I'm sad to leave, but grateful for the reason that we're moving.

Blessed again

Two and half years ago i got to write about the day we blessed Kendal. Today we have been blessed again with the opportunity to bless Peter. It was a wonderful day and i was so happy to have family with us to celebrate. We were missing a few family members; but we are grateful and happy to have those who could come and share the day with us. 
I am truly thankful for the gospel and all of the blessings i receive through it. I have come to rely on the Lord so much in my life. I've had to learn that i am on my Heavenly Father's plan. Things in my life will work out when and how he sees fit. I just need to live the best that i can and put my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father that everything can and will be good. I know that through this gospel i am part of an Eternal family. A day like today just drives that message home for me. I look at the family that surrounds me and my new little one and i just feel very blessed and lucky to have them all in my life.

So i'm ending my day feeling thankful and happy for being blessed again.

keeping busy

Pete turned one month back on July 21st. He is growing and getting bigger. At first Pete seemed to be a calm baby just like his sister was, but he's come into his own now. He moves more than Kendal did, and likes to stand up and hold his head up. Pete is growing out of his sleep all day phase. He now has a good amount of awake time during the day. I wish he would sleep for longer periods of time at night, but i'll take what i can get right now. He has started to give social smiles, and we've heard a handful of coos out of him. Pete likes to grunt, sometimes when he eats he can get so noisy, and when he wants to eat he grunts and blows bubbles till i pick him up.  Pete is only grumpy when he is gassy or tired. Pete never liked sponge baths; finally after a month his belly button closed up and we could give him a bath. He is much more content in a bath than he is getting a sponge bath.

Kendal loves to help give Pete his baths. She likes to pour water on him and tries to get him to kick like she did as a baby. Kendal is enjoying her brother. She always likes to know what he is doing, and what we're doing with him. Kendal is loving her brother, but knows she's not the only one around any more so she tends to show off and be a bit silly for house guests and family. Lately Kendal has been wanting to play games (our board games). Casey has told her that she has to be five to play some of the games we have. So now Kendal announces to us that she is five and begs us to get a game down. Kendal still loves to talk, sing, and read. She's starting to get into pretend play with her animals and pretending she is a princess or other characters. It's cute to see her imagination grow and see all the things she comes up with.
We got to spend some more time with the Spears on the 20th and 21st. They were in Logan so we got to hang out a bit. Our visits are too far apart, but we love getting to spend time with them when we can. We got in a little bit of golf, and some water play with the kids. 

 This past week we celebrated the 24th. For the first time in four years i had the holiday off so i got to join the family for some fun. We went to the North Logan and Logan parades. Kendal had a field day gathering and eating way too much candy. Later in the day we pulled out the pool for Kendal and her cousin Campbell; then we had a yummy family dinner.

The day after the 24th Casey and i took Pete up to Challis to check things out and find a place to live. (Kendal stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, because i was not going to do 9+ hours in the car with a toddler. It was a long enough journey with Pete : / ) We move in the middle of August, and Casey starts school on the 20th. Casey still doesn't have a full schedule lined up yet, but it looks like he'll be making up his own curriculum for some classes, and doing a lot to prep and ready his new classroom.
We got to go to a children's museum last Thursday with my nephew Campbell. Kendal and Campbell loved to run around, explore, and discover things.  It's such fun to see Kendal and Campbell together!
So much more coming up with Pete's blessing, family reunion, and moving. It's all keeping us busy 

Declo reunion

We went to Declo this past weekend for Casey's 10 yr high school reunion. Casey graduated in 02 from Declo High School. He graduated with 85 people. We went up Thursday night and joined the Webb's for a farm dinner. On Friday Casey finished the sandbox with his dad and we got to spend some time with Brett, Vanessa, David and Becca (later on Nicole, Hunter, and Jaxson). Friday night we left the kids at Grandma's and went to the reunion. There were 29 classmates at the reunion. Casey got to see many friends and classmates and catch up on every ones lives. After dinner they played a couple of games about what everyone has done in the last ten years / memories of high school. It was especially fun to see Rhett, Aria, Wade, and Lauren. Saturday Casey rode in the Declo Day's parade with some of his classmates. Kendal went nuts collecting candy and scaring her mom running at floats and cars.  We joined Casey's family at Declo Day's and let the kids play a bit. It was really hot and really crowded, then a storm blew in so we gathered everyone up and went out for lunch. There was supposed to be a family get together for Casey's class reunion Saturday afternoon, however since it was still stormy no one showed up. We ended up spending the afternoon at Aria's parents home with our friends. It was a fun weekend. Casey loved seeing his classmates, and as always we enjoyed our family time!

Pictures below: Kendal and David playing in the water at Grandma and Grandpa's - Reunion pic from Friday night - Casey's classmates at the parade - us at the parade (the girls were way more into candy than anything else) - David and Kendal waiting for a turn at the bouncy house - David and Kendal at the playground.

I wish i would've gotten more pics of the family, and our friends. : (