The past month

Wow, it seems like the past month has flown by for us...

We started out the month with warmer than normal temperatures and have ended it with about normal temps and snowfall. We used to like snow, but that was because we on had snow on rare occasions in North Carolina. We no longer like snow, in fact we dread it. When it snowed in NC basically everything shut down and you got to stay home and enjoy time together as a family and play in the snow. In Utah, everything continues as normal, no matter how much snow we have. Kayleigh is enjoying playing in the snow for now and Garret seems to enjoy it as well. They have enjoyed us pulling them around the front yard on the sled. Kayleigh did have her first sled injury this past Sunday. I guess she was not holding on and Kris pulled a little too fast and she flew off of the sled. She busted her lip and got a nasty bruise below her stomach when she flew off of the sled. She is fine today, but she is not happy that her purple and red bruise did not disappear overnight.

The last weekend in November was Thanksgiving and we enjoyed our time with the Wellman Family.

The first weekend in December we went on a retreat for deploying families and had a great time.

Garret had surgery on both of his eyes on December 10, and seems to be recovering great. His first post-op appointment was December 18, and the doctor said everything looked great. We have another post-op appointment on January 20.
Kayleigh had her dance recital/revue on December 20 and did great as usual. The videos from her two dances are below.

Christmas was fun this year, but really seemed to surprise us with its arrival. We did not decorate very much this year, but we did enjoy lots of time with each other. See the post below about Christmas.

We are trying to get a lot of things done around the house before Kris leaves for the big sandbox. When we talk about Kris’ deployment around Kayleigh we always say he is going to the desert. When someone asked me a few weeks ago where Kris was going and I said Iraq, Kayleigh immediately seemed to panic, so I very quickly said “Daddy is going to the desert”, so for all of you that talk to Kayleigh on the phone and in person please do not mention Iraq. I am sure that the next two weeks will fly by for us as well and then we will adjust to our family of 3 for 4-6 months. As long as Kris returns for our big trip to Disneyland in August we will all be happy. We know for sure that he will miss Valentine’s Day, his birthday, our 10 year anniversary, spring break, and Easter. He might miss or he might be home for Memorial Day and Garret’s birthday.

Before Christmas I found out that 3 people that I know had female friends pass away that were around our age and mothers. It was very sad for me and made me cherish my time with my children and husband even more. Two of the women I did not know at all, but one I felt like I had grown to know through her blog that I have read for over a year. It was very sad for me when I read that she had passed away on December 23. She has two very young boys that will grow up without a wonderful mother. It has made me value my time with my children and husband even more than I already did.