Making the Most Out of a Week and a Half

When we got back from Utah we only had about a week and a half before Husband needed to load up a Uhaul and take off to Texas.  He left mid-April with all of our things and the kids and I stayed behind so that I could finish up a few more shifts at the hospital and then go to Washington state with my dad to visit grandparents.  We were going to be apart for over a month, so we did our best to make the most of the time we had.

When we bought our house, we anticipated that we would live there for a long time, if not forever.  We had moved in 100% and gotten rid of all of our boxes.  Suddenly our house was in chaos again and we were so grateful for ward members who donated boxes to us.  Not only that, but at least a dozen ward members showed up the morning we were loading up and had the house emptied and loaded within an hour and a half.  It was an amazing site.  Some of the ladies came back later that afternoon to help me give the house a quick scrub down.  Thank you Dana Ward!  You rock!

We also want to shout out to some really good friends who brought dinner by amidst all the craziness and who watched our kids so that we could have some quality packing/house-fixer-upping time.  Lisa sent me these pictures from when she was watching the kids. We didn't know it until that day, but Lindi has proved to be a master climber.

And while there was lots of packing and projects, we did make time to be all together because we knew a month apart was going to be hard.  We took the kids to Riverview Park and tried out the new splash pad.  The water was freezing (note Hyrum's first reaction), but the kids warmed up to it and had a ball.  Tony and I weren't completely miserable once we found an area where we could stay out of the cold mist.

Tony and I also made a trip to visit the Gilbert Temple before we left (thanks Aunt Sydney for watching the kiddos!).  It is a beautiful building and a special place.  It will always be a special temple to me, because I made donations towards it's building fund.  I thought it would be the temple I got married in.  No doubt I'll be back to visit when my sisters get married. :)

Many thanks to Grandpa Brown for flying out to help us touch up the house and drive with Husband to Texas.  You're the best!

And so we said goodbye to the house we loved and to each other for a little while.  I cried myself sick that night.  Being apart for a month sounded alright in theory, but I said goodbye to my husband and it hurt so bad and those two sweet kiddos didn't understand why Daddy wasn't there to tuck them in at night.  Let's never do that again...