5172 B Sijan Court

Oy, moving. I do not recommend it.  Emotional. Exhausting. Exciting (kind of) - One of the last nights in our Andrews house I spent several minutes on the porch reminiscing about the 10 years we had spent there. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought of all the wonderful memories we had at that home. So many wonderful people had come into our lives during our time in Maryland. People who will forever be considered our family. Just a few memories I thought of:

*bringing Daisy home

*the days spent recovering after Joe's face was broken. 

*Haylee's carnival birthday party.

*both HD and Sierra's graduation parties.

*sitting in the yard chatting almost every single night of summer with the best neighbors.

*that time Joe and Matt recorded their own version of Bruno Mars "Bilionaire" 

*when HD tossed his scriptures down the hall and put a big hole in the wall at the end of the hallway. 

*Bob and Joe hauling a pinball machine up the stairs and back down.

*Bob and Joe hauling an elliptical machine up and back down and then doing it again since the one that went up the first time was broken. 

*giving Sierra her 16th birthday present (tickets to see Wicked) best birthday  gift reaction ever! 

*when HD sort of choked on a sunflower seed while we were playing a game with grandma Chelle and her laughing so hard  she couldn't breathe which made us all laugh so hard. 

*falling down the stairs whilst looking behind me admiring my own handiwork of putting Christmas clings on the landing windows. 

*dance parties in the living room. 

*Sierra singing and singing and singing. 

*so much laughter. 

I am so thankful for the ten years we spent there.  That is a rare thing for a military family.

 We will miss you 5172 B Sijan Court.

Meeting the POTUS

Hello! It's me - Tara! After such a long lost time. Last Friday was an epic event in our lives and I must get it down in all the craziness that is life right now...

On January 30th we were able to go to the White House and meet President Barack H. Obama in the OVAL OFFICE!!  For the last ten years Joe has been in the PAG which is part of the White House Military Office.  When it's time for you to depart WHMO you are invited to go to the White House and have a departure photo taken with the president. It was seriously the coolest experience ever. We had to wait outside for a while in the surprise crazy snow fall for about an hour then we got to go inside to a second holding area and wait a bit more. When it was time to go further inside the WH we came to an area that looked familiar, we

Realized we were on the opposite side (than we had previously been on) of a red partition that is put up so the first family can move about the WH without anyone who is on a public tour.  Once when we were visiting we were on the east side of the partition and one of the aides there told us President Bush had passed by just a minute before. This time we were on the west side of the partition -fancy! We waited in a foyer for a while then an aide said "we need to move you guys for a minute" and he shuffled us all into the kitchen hallway and closed the door. There was an event at the WH that day so the kitchen was a busy place. We were lining both sides of a maybe four foot hallway and staff were pushing through is with big bouquets of flowers and trays. We were right by the dummy waiter and elevator. Cool! After 10 minutes or so they came back to get us and ushered us all back to where we were.  I am so curious as why we had to be moved out of sight. I am sure I will never know. After 10 more minutes or so of waiting we were moved out one door and walked outside down the west wing colonnade as pictured below

See the brown desk inside? We walked thru those doors and right past that into a hallway to wait our turn.  In the hallway Joe and I were chatting and I told him I was going to make sure and say "Mr. President" somewhere in our meeting just so I could use that phrase. When would I ever get to say that again?? In the hallway we were in were some family photos blown up and framed very nicely. There were a couple of photos of the President getting off the airplane and one of him on board. The aides and the secret service were very, very nice. When we were about 2 couples away from going inside the aide said "don't be nervous" for the record we weren't nervous at all "the president will make you feel right at home, like he's known you forever. Relax and take it all in.  Then it was our turn to go inside!! We stepped into the Oval Office and stood to the side with a mil aide who would announce is. There was so much to look at!  The rug,

the desk, paintings and statues.  And then there was the president himself! I remember thinking "holy cow that is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!" The real deal!  how cool is that???  We had about 20 seconds -seemed like 3- to take it in and then we were being announced to the POTUS. It was surreal to see him standing there just like a normal regular guy in front of his desk.  The president smiled and reached to shake Joe's hand. Joe said "Good Afternoon Mr. President." I said "It's nice to meet you Mr. President." The POTUS said "come on let's take a picture" he put me in the middle of him and Joe (they told us where to stand but the pres. Guided me to the spot) as he did he said "you stand in the middle, a rose between two thorns." He put his arm around me and I ended up with my arm around him. Between that and the rose comment (which is oddly not the first time someone has said that to me) I don't even know if I was smiling for the photo!  I didn't suck it in or make sure my sweater was in place or anything!  It happened so fast!  I hope I don't look like an idiot!  Lol before we went inside we were briefed about what was appropriate -don't make any requests of the pres. Don't give him anything, no political statements etc. I had really wanted to tell him about the kids but you literally only have like 40 seconds in there. After the photo the president stepped in front of us and asked "what's next for you guys?"  Joe replied "we are headed to Whiteman Air Force Base, sir" the pres said "that will be great, love the Midwest" or something like that that part is a little fuzzy lol - then he asked "do you have any kids?" In the .0000002 seconds that I had to decide how to respond I decided just saying "Yep!" Was dumb so I said "we have three. Our oldest is 21 and serving a mission in Brazil" the president didn't hear the mission part as soon as he heard 21 he held up his hand/pointed at me and said "wait, wait, wait. You have a son who is 21??!"  Points  at Joe and says "him I believe it but you? No" And shakes his head. Joe said "she ages well sir". Ha ha ha we cracked up about that later. I knew our time was up and I didn't want to not mention the girls so I said "we also have a 19 year old daughter in college at BYUI and a 13 year old daughter at home and she would want us to tell you she says hello." He kindly replied "you tell her I said hello!" Then he said "so she will be making the move with you. How is she doing?" I said "she is excited, though it is hard to leave after

10 years"  he said "I am sure it will be

good" and put his hands on the outside of mine and Joe's arms and said "thank you again for your service."  And we walked out.  Joe said "geeze chatty Kathy!" I was like hey he asked me a question!! Lol we knew some other couples that had their pictures taken that day and when they came out they said "he talked to you guys forever!!" We probably had about 60 seconds as opposed to everyone else's 40.  I can't help it if I am easy to talk to!  Lol it was such a great experience!!!  Can't wait to get the photo back!!!! 

Here is what we wore. It was SO windy that day! 

This is what the Oval Office looked like that day 

It was AMAZING!!!  Hands down coolest thing to ever happen to us!  

Puppy love and happiness

This girl likes to lay my her momma.  It makes me happy. 

It is snowing today that makes everyone happy :) 

We are getting out the tree.  That makes everyone happy too!  :) 

Funny kid

I got to attend young women in excellence this evening at the White Plains 1st Ward.  It was a nice evening and the girls did a great job presenting their personal progress.  It's such a wonderful feeling to sit there and see that they are GETTING IT!  That they have individual worth, that they are a daughter of God, that they can make a difference in the lives of others thru their good works.  All of it.  They are getting it!  So rewarding to hear them speak. 

Ended up getting home the same time Haylee did from mutual which was nice. She had a good time but was disappointed that she didn't get to lead the activity.  It was Origami and she had a book and paper and was ready to go to teach the girls.  She still had a good time.  Tomorrow she turns THIRTEEN!   What the heck? Where has the time gone???  I really have no idea.  Most kids want to get older and can't wait to be a teenager then can't wait to drive, can't wait to turn 18, can't wait to move out.  Haylee on the other hand is feeling quite the opposite. I was pretty surprised when she said "stop calling me the birthday girl!  I don't want to be 13!"  When I asked why she said "that's the official age when boys start hitting on you and I swear if anybody does that I am going to slug them!" When I laughed she said "I'm serious mom. You might have to come to the principals office!"  Lol I was cracking up in the inside.  She is such a feisty girl. She and I have been on our own for 4.5 weeks while Joe has been in Alabama.  We are having fun but at the same time we need some testosterone in the house!  :) hormones are not fun with nothing for balance. Lol only 2.5 weeks to go.  Can't wait!  Fingers crossed Haylee wakes up in the morning happy that she is 13. 

Trek -a few months late

I obviously don't post often enough.  Our stake did trek back in July. I had a cold but didn't feel sick just annoying sick where I was coughing and stuffed up.  Quick summary of things I remember

-no running water.  

-lots of cow poop

-tent sleeping.

-cow poop

-standing in a field (of cow poop) at 1 am trying to light wet fire wood to heat up broth whilst dressed like a pioneer and trying to do so in complete darkness -no moon- best comment as we are standing there waiting for the youth goes to Lana "look at us standing here in this field at 1 am dressed like pioneers. If someone just came upon us what would they think? People often find Mormons peculiar. Right now I find us peculiar too!"  Lol 

-womens pull. Amazing. while observing as the girls were left to pull the carts alone up the steepest most treacherous part of the trail and seeing the anguish and concern on the boys faces as they had to stand by and watch. It made me think that when a husband leaves his wife for wordly things that is exactly what he is doing.  Leaving her to pull the cart alone with the help of their children. The path is steep and difficult.  It is a great struggle to pull that heavy cart. I wanted to tell those boys to remember how they felt watching helplessly as the girls pulled -how badly they wanted to help them I wanted them to remember that is what happens if they ever leave their families.  It should be the mans top priority to keep his family together and pull the cart.  Don't start a journey with someone and fill the cart with innocent children then walk away.  I do not imagine the Lord will look upon that favorably. 

-we had amazing weather.  Coolest trek on record for our stake I am sure. 

-finding the band more search than rescue as usual ;)

-eating at fosters at 9:55 in our pioneer clothes and laughing until we almost fell out of the booth. 

-riding in all kinds of ways in Becky's small truck most notably on Lana's lap. 

And in the back at 2am in the rain with Larry. 

-testimony meeting. So powerful.

-the hoedown!  How fun was the Virginia reel! 

And now pics:

Trekking 

Lana and I 

President Volk getting a ride in style 

We hauled firewood in our skirts across this bridge over and over and over. 

Feeling snazzy in my pioneer bonnet 

Loved this pic from the hoedown 

Lana said she could have ridden like this for days and days. I did not believe her.

Stake YW presidency. I love these ladies so much. They have taught me so many things and are such wonderful examples.  I am so grateful to serve with them at this time and place. 

Lots of bonding occurred with these awesome youth and their trek families.  

An experience I will always remember!!

Girls camp!

I have been meaning to post about girls camp since it happened the last week of June.  We are traveling to Cali so a six hour plane ride seems perfect to catch up a bit!  :) 

Camp was held at Prince William Forrest Park in Triangle, Virginia.  Our theme was "Camp OZ (our Zion)" and the motto was "Come Unto Christ, there's no place like home".  BEST THEME EVER! It was amazing even though there were tons and tons and tons of ticks.  Proof of all the ticks was when we realized Haylee had Lyme disease just 2 weeks after getting home. We knew she had a tick on her I checked the site and 2 weeks later bullseye rash.  Not fun but antibiotics took care of it.  Yay for modern meds. Now back to the fun part of camp. I feel so blessed to work with Lana and Becky.  I am always learning from their righteous examples.  Every time I am with Lana she inspires me to be a better person (the weekend before camp we were tasked with doing dinner for the priesthood between sessions of stake conference and I was so grumbly about it. Lana was steadfast in her positive attitude and always thinks the best of everyone- I like to think I try to do that but she is much better at it than I am) and on top of all that we have SO MUCH FUN together!  It really is wonderful to serve with people you love to be around. Then there is the support staff we are blessed to work with at camp. Our amazing camp director sister Bonnet, the YCL leaders and our fun crafty ladies.  One of my favorites is Jacque Munns.  She grew up in Rigby and is a hoot and a half. Always lots of fun to be and when sister Munns is around. A couple of YCLs wandered into our cabin one night to see her swinging a bra over her head and promptly putting it on her head as earmuffs. They could not beleive their eyes :) and said we were the loudest cabin in all of camp. And we were! She and sis Martin landed in kangaroo court for that incident.  :) Wednesday we did our golden hour (an hour long devotional) we each spoke under the umbrella of staying on the path- my part was why we should/how -(use your GPS of course Gospel Principals System) Becky's was about forks in the road and trusting The Lords direction and Lana's was about choosing to be happy no matter what part of the road we are on.  We got a lot of positive feedback and I think we made a gabe the girls something to think about even though two days later when president Volk came up and asked them what they had learned that week none of them had an answer lol.  Thursday evening was YCL "raid the kitchen" night and those cute 16 and 17 year olds insisted we join their fun party. There were jalapeño poppers, it was 11:30pm, I ate several, that turned out to be a very bad idea at 4:00 in the morning. I was sick for most of the day.  Had to stay in bed that morning.  It was miserable. First moment I was forced to face I am not a teenager anymore -well close to the first ha ha ha.  

Here are the pictures

We stayed in the infirmary. Looked a little like a mental institution but it worked :)

We look good on day one 

Favorite camp shirt EVER!

The now annual posing on something at Walmart photo

Me and cute sis. She had a rough camp experience but she was given a wonderful blessing on the last night and was blessed that she would only have fond memories and she does. :) 

Some of my most favorite people 

Crazies

Haylee loved kayaking! She did great! 

We got a new member of the stake YW right before camp.  Jamie is fab!

Paying their dues in kangaroo court

We did not have cell service at camp. Not one bit. We are all on the phone with our hubbies.  

Girls -along with bro reed- doing the squirrel dance for lost items

Stake leaders: sis Ramon stake RS pres moonlighting as camp nurse, sis Munns also stake RS -assistant crafts, Becky, Lana, Jocelyn -crafts, Jamie, me, sis Bonnett stake camp director, sis staley -assistant camp director, sis Gillingwater YCL leader. 

Coolest lanyards and buttons. Sis Bonnett made one for every single person at camp!  Girls, leaders EVERYONE! 

 

Older mom :)

Saw a great huffington post blog article about what its like to be inside the head of a mom for five minutes.  I loved it and could definitely relate to a lot of what was written even thought it was for a mom with younger kids.  It really got me thinking though and I decided to write a post myself from the perspective of a mom with older kids.  Here it is:  :)  

Oh shoot!  Hit snooze one too many times I better get moving fast no 17 wake up calls for the kiddos today, I am going in their rooms once!  Just once! And they better get a move on or I am taking away their phones!  Honestly that is more of a punishment for me. And really who am I kidding?  It is going to take no less than 5 "wake-ups" for them to even rouse slightly and I am going to get "just five more minutes" at least twice.  I am pretty sure they could sleep 22 hours a day.  I hope the cops aren't monitoring the school zone this morning because I am going to have to speed like a mad woman to get the kids there on time.  Why can't we be early at least once?  Do any teenagers arrive early to school? I don't know how its possible. Their parents must get them up at 5 AM.  If I was a good mom I would do that too.  I am barely going to have time to throw lunches together.  Pop-tarts, crackers and string cheese count as lunch right?  I wish we could go back to the early years of school when they popped out of bed so bright eyed and excited to see their friends, maybe if they hadn't been up until all hours of the night texting those same friends they would be excited to see them this morning, I have been meaning to call the phone company and change their service.  I can turn it off at night right?  I am pretty sure you can do that but do I really want to deal with the excessive complaining and grumping around that is sure to follow for DAYS maybe weeks afterward? I am not in the mood for that kind of grief today, I'll do it next week. But I AM doing it!  Wonder if I need a phone password or account number or something to make changes? I am sure I wrote that down somewhere if I could only remember where....I'll ask the hubby.   Crap. He needed potato salad for the potluck at work today.  Totally spaced.  I'm sure he figured it out.  I have got to be more organized.  I am starting today!  Yes, I'll get started this morning right after I drop the kids off at school, wait is it Tuesday? I think H has an orthodontist appointment today.  What time was that at 10? 11? I hope she knows where her retainer is but that isn't likely, where did I see it last?  On the bathroom counter? Gross.  Hope its still sitting there.  She hasn't had it the last two appointments.   I know I look like the worst mom ever for not keeping track of it but seriously?  Isn't she old enough to keep track of it?  But we all know who would have to pay the 500.00 to replace it if its lost for good.  I hope I don't have to fill out insurance forms again -why do we have to do that every time?  Ugh forms. Is S's field trip form due today too?  I think I filled it out.  Do I have to pay that 35.00 in cash? Do I have cash? Since when did field trips cost 35.00???  I am never going to have time to run to the ATM this morning and its not like I can get 35.00 exactly anyway. So annoying they won't take a check.  Going to have to turn to the cookie jar stash I bet the school would take a check if I paid them in change.  Darn it! It IS Tuesday I am in charge of refreshments for the PTO meeting! Going to have to do store bought no time to make anything presentable. I remember making Christmas tree cupcakes for D's 1st grade class one year I even used those cute round sprinkles and placed them just so to look like ornaments.  That was a lifetime a, seriously who has time for that?  Ok so its Tuesday but what is the date? Is it the 10th? I think we have to register him to take the SAT by tomorrow!  Gotta add that to the agenda for sure. No SAT, no first choice college, no good life - over one deadline.  Can't believe it is time to apply for college.  Why do babies grow up?  Wonder how much it costs to take the test.  He has to take it.  Will we ever have extra money? *sigh* probably not. There's the dog whining to go out.  Poor girl she can't hold it in anymore in her old age. I hope she hangs in there a few more years the kids have grown up with her.  No more snooze button, better go drag everybody out of bed.  

Hope you enjoyed it!  Feel free to share!