THAILAND!!!

So Eric and I officially had our first Thailand adventure! I say first because I hope we get to go back someday. It was basically everything I would want in a vacation: the right balance of active things and relaxing, culture, good food and alone time away from the kids! We got to feed elephants, go ziplining, do a sunset stand up paddleboarding tour, see lots of temples, hang out on the beach and enjoy super cheap delicious food. We especially enjoyed drinking fruit smoothies and eating Roti (Thai crispy crepes with nutella or chocolate and banana and sweetened condensed milk...so good!) pretty much every day. All in all, I was honestly very surprised at how smoothly the trip went. The jet lag was not nearly as bad as I expected and we didn't have any minor disasters. Here are some other things that surprised me about our trip:

• Chiang Mai was very smokey! We didn't know this but apparently, our trip fell directly in the middle of Burning Season which is when farmers in the surrounding areas burn their fields to prepare for the next round of planting. Sooo it was smokey especially out in the mountains like on the day we were with the elephants.
• Chiang Mai is actually a relatively small city and Old Town where most of the old temples are is very walkable. I didn't realize how many temples there are all right close to each other. It was super convenient. 
• There is graffiti everywhere!
• Food was not very spicy. I was a little worried going in but honestly the whole time we were there we were never served ANYTHING that was too spicy for me! I don't know if they just looked at us and were like, "oh they look white lets tone down the spice" or what but it wasn't a problem even with street food.
• It was more touristy everywhere we went that I expected. I was surprised especially about how touristy Koh Lanta was because I had read that it is a little more off the beaten path and not so crowded but it still felt pretty busy and touristy to me. 
• We didn't have a problem with mosquitos at all! I was honestly super shocked by this one. We had prepared with mosquito repellant bracelets and bug spray but I felt like we barely needed them as I barely saw any mosquitos even down in the islands.
• On Koh Lanta everyone rents their own moped to get around. We rented one too for about $13 for two days. It was super convenient but the days we were down there it was very windy so that was uncomfortable on the moped (hello dust and sand being constantly blown in our eyes!). 

And now for pictures! I will break it down by days (for the most part) because there's a lot:

Day One: Explore Old Town on foot:

The mangoes in Thailand were delicious!

We found the church in Thailand and were able to attend Sacrament meeting. A nice missionary from Australia translated for us which was great! 

We LOVED our hotel: Amata Lanna Village. It was like the perfect little oasis inside of Chiang Mai. And the breakfast they served every day was DELICIOUS especially the mango sticky rice. 

Day Two: Elephants!

We got to feed the elephants bananas, pumpkin, watermelon, and cucumbers. Also we made them these sticky rice balls out of tamarind, banana, rice and I think some vitamins for them. 

We also got to walk with them down to the river and bathe them in the river. They were so chill and it was fun to be with them. 

Day Three: Ziplining!

The area around Chiang Mai was definitely in its fall season and a lot more brown and yellow in general and less tropical than I expected but still pretty. 

You can kind of tell in this picture how smokey the sky was. 

This was supposed to be a pretty waterfall but because we were there at the end of dry season there was pretty much no water in it. 

Day Four: Down to Ao Nang and Railay Beach for SUP:

Railay beach had the most amazing beautiful cliffs! 

But yes, it was crowded with tourists! 

You get to and from Railay beach via long-tail boat which was cool.

Sunset SUP tour! It was beautiful and fun- definitely a highlight of the trip.

It was easier than I expected to stand up and I never actually lost my balance but I was slow when standing so I knelt for most of the time.

Days Five and Six: Beach days in Koh Lanta

In Koh Lanta we mostly hung out on the beach. I also got a very relaxing $8 pedicure and foot massage and we got a couples massage which required me to strip to the waist down right there out in public on the beach! Haha I was little surprised but good thing I'm not too shy! I just rolled with it haha. 

The best sunsets!

We went down to Bamboo beach one of the days and we were just relaxing under these handy shelters when suddenly I heard mooing! There were two lost cows that just wandered through. So random. I felt bad for them because there was obviously nothing for them to eat down on the beach! I hope their owner found them! 

We found these fun little tidepools that had tons of bright green crabs in them! 

Day Seven: Back to Chiang Mai:

Apparently, this temple dates back to the 1500s! 

While we were gone the kids stayed with Carma and Travis and with Blake and Shannon. We tried to talk to Levi every night before he went to bed. We missed them a lot but the kids had fun with their cousins.

Maren and Emery really hit it off and had a blast being together! 

Oh Hey Fort Worth

So I'm well into my training for my new job now. Did I mention last time that there's a lot of training? Because there is. There is So Much Training. And it's pretty much all down in Fort Worth. Hello 3+ hours of driving a day!

Anyway, Levi wanted to help me with my blog post today. Here's what he wants to say:
Levi: "I love Mommy. Magic Rug."
me: "Anything else you want to say about what you've been doing lately or what you've been liking?"
Levi: ""A" box! And I want to say I wish I had a real phone." ("A" box is a school activity where he colors things that start with the letter "a").
me: "Anything else?"
Levi: "I wish I could be a magic house."
Me: "A magic house? What's a magic house?"
Levi: "This is a magic house! I wish I could be an adult to buy a magic house."
Me: "What would you put in your magic house?"
Levi: "Gold. Lots of magic gold."
Me: "Is that it?"
Levi: "I wish I could build a Mommy out of magna tiles."
Me: "What and replace me!?"
Levi: "Not replace you! Build you."
Me: "I'm already built. I'm already a person."
Levi: "No I'm wanting to build you out of magna tiles"
Me: "Like a statue of me?
Levi: "Yeah. This is a great wish. Can you wish something about Jesus Christ?"
Me: "You want me to wish something about Jesus Christ?"
Levi: "Yeah. And it has to be something about his magic powers."
Me: "Jesus doesn't have magic."
Levi: "At least powers. I wish I could have powers."
Me: "What would you want powers to do?"
Levi: "Rescue people."
Me: "From what?"
Levi: "Bad guys."

And now he's done helping me. But I love these little glimpses into his mind and the way he thinks about the world. I've been missing him lately what with me having to go down to Fort Worth for training so much. Even though I'm only working 20 hours a week, when you count in drive time it's more like 30. I appreciate the opportunity to get so much continuing ed and some of it is really helpful but it's just so much! I wish I could do some of it remotely. I asked about that when the education director asked for input. Anyway, I am very much looking forward to getting out in the field and actually working with kiddos and families.  And working close by here and not so darn far away!

Anyway, the kids are still doing well at their new school. Levi came home with work samples for the first time this week. He really likes poking out shapes and coloring from the "a" box. He's also been working on the pink tower which I think is supposed to teach pre-geometry skills. Emery seems to be doing well. She naps well at school. Her language is still slow coming and her pediatrician referred her for an early intervention eval but I haven't heard anything from them which is weird because I know that at MHMR where I work referrals are supposed to be contacted within 3 days and it's been over a week for this one. But I suppose different companies follow different standards and I know that the state guideline is that the child has to be evaluated within 28 days of receiving the referral.

We also are continuing to work on the house. I worked on bathrooms this past week. Papi came over and helped us frame out the mirror in the master bath which looks awesome now!

 

Before

After. I can't wait to replace those light fixtures and faucets as well!!

And he helped me switch out the light fixture and the mirror in the half bath. That was an adventure because the mirror was very adhered to the wall and so it was hard to remove and when we did it damaged the drywall a little. Also when we took the light fixture off we uncovered a rather large hole. So I learned from Papi how to patch the drywall and then I learned how to texture from YouTube and I retextured the wall for the first time ever! It didn't turn out perfectly but I think I did pretty good for it being my first time! We also switched out the towel rack. I haven't got a picture of the finished product yet because I just got the mirror for it last night so it's not up yet but once it is I will share a picture.

But yeah, aside from work and working on the house not much else is going on here lately. My mom is here visiting which is always nice. And we had a fun RS bookclub two weeks ago which I loved. I'm starting to know the ladies in the ward a little better but still wouldn't say I have any friends.

I can't believe that we leave for Thailand on Friday!!! I am super excited but also nervous about the trip- well mostly about logistics and how the kids are going to handle being away from us for so long! I know I will miss them lots. We've never been apart from them that long ever. I've never been away from Emery longer than about 48 hours. So I'm a little nervous about that. And there's still lots to do before our trip! I need to do laundry and pack for us and the kids and figure out food for the last couple days here, and get our key and instruction list to the girl taking care of our plants for us, and buy a new swimsuit because the cute cute ones I ordered online never showed up (grrr!) and get an adapter, and figure out parking at the airport and register for ziplining (yay!) and all the things.

Anyway, the weather has been a little bipolar lately- warm and nice and then freezing but I guess that's TX for you. We try to take advantage of the warm days and play at the park. Here's some cute pictures of the kiddos and our life lately:

Emery and Silva are just the cutest together!!

I love these cousins! 

Eric recently surprised me with this cozy snuggie. Haha Levi looks a little like a Star Wars character in it! 

Emery has recently figured out how to climb onto the counters!! It's kind of a problem. The other day I went to the bathroom and came out to find that she had helped herself to a banana. 

It took me a while to figure out what she did with the peel until I looked in the cabinet and found it in this bowl haha. 

Emery has also recently taken to hiding behind the little chair in her room when it's time for her to get ready for bed. She runs quick quick and hides herself. It's so funny. 

I have the cutest boys!! 

Fun times climbing at the park! 

One of my favorite pictures of her ever!!

Love Levi's tongue out with concentration. 

I had to capture this typical moment in time: the playroom a disaster, Levi dressed himself in with his soccer socks like leg warmers, and stickers on his face.

Eric and I did a painting class together the other night. This was my creation. I was much happier with it before we added the water ripples. 

New Year, New Goals, New Challenges

Well it's been an incredibly long time since I have written anything in this blog. Life keeps me busy. I got the job that I had been hoping for with MHMR which is awesome! I am super excited about the opportunity it is presenting me and I think it will work out well for our family. As of right now, I am planning on keeping this job long-term. HOWEVER, the onboarding process is a BEAST. I knew there would be some training and I was glad for that but holy cow I had NO IDEA of the scope of said training. It involves way more in-person classes down in Fort Worth than I thought. I have, I think, 21 different required in-person trainings down in Fort Worth, each 3-6 hours in length and on top of that I have a whole bunch of online trainings to do and a whole bunch of in-person one-on-one trainings with my specific team to do! It's a little overwhelming but I am grateful for the opportunity to be well-prepared for my job and learn a lot. But the drive to and from Fort Worth is a killer. It takes me from 1 hour 15 min to 1 hour 40 min to drive there in the morning depending on traffic and pretty consistently 2 hours to drive home. Yikes! It makes for extra long days and me missing my kiddos a lot. But it's not forever. By April, I should be spending pretty much all my time locally working with my team and my own caseload.

With me starting work, the kids also started daycare again. Eric and the kids and I went and toured about 6 different places before deciding on a Montessori school in Frisco that is on Eric's commute to work. We really like it so far and the kids seem very happy there! It is a smaller school owned by a little old Indian lady named Miss Faye. She is great. And pretty much all the teachers there are Indian as well and have years and years of experience. I can tell they love the kids and are very experienced and knowledgeable about teaching them. When we toured the school I was just so impressed with the calm and order that existed there. I have never felt that in a daycare before and it definitely sold me on the place. And so far it seems to be going really well. The kids are happy to go to school and happy when we pick them up. Levi says his favorite thing is to play legos with his new friend with the spiderman sweatshirt and to do the poking activity (he pokes shapes out of pieces of paper with a little dowel thing- this a Montessori activity to strengthen attention and fine motor skills). Emery can't tell us about her day (obviously) but the teachers report that she naps well (which is amazing!) and eats well and she seems happy.

About Emery's language, I was a little worried because up until about a week and a half ago she seemed stuck at about 6 words. And she had had those same 6 words for a while and she never imitated sounds. BUT, right after her 18 month check-up (which she was over a month late for) she suddenly started talking more! She's got about 20 words now including her new favorites "mine!" and "ta!" (stop- which she says while holding her hand out in the common "stop" gesture). She is growing in her independence too and wants to do things like a big girl like refuse to wear a bib, insist on trying to drink from an open cup, and put her clothes on by herself. Ever since she started school she is also very interested in the toilet and will frequently point to her bum and then run to the bathroom, lift the toilet lid and ask me to hold her while she sits on the potty! She even tries to wipe herself with toilet paper although she has yet to actually pee or poop on the potty. But I am wondering if this means she will potty train younger and much easier than Levi did! At her age, he definitely was perfectly content to stay in diapers!

Other big exciting news lately is that Eric surprised me on Christmas with the news that we are going to Thailand for our anniversary this year! I was shocked and sooo excited! We've had two planning dates so far and now have our itinerary for the trip planned out and our hotel reservations made. I can still barely believe we are going and I am just so excited. I mean, we've been seriously wanting to go there for about 3 years now and I just can't believe the time has finally come! I am a little apprehensive about being gone from the kids for so long (11 days!) but I think it's just going to be an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can't wait to feed the elephants, hike the forests, stand-up-paddleboard at night in the ocean and just general experience Thailand with my amazing husband. We need this break to just be together kid-free and I am so, so much looking forward to it.

With Thailand as our motivation and the New Year as a good starting time, Eric and I have recommited to new exercise goals and so far so good! I decided to follow the youth's new program and also make spiritual, intellectual and social goals for myself as well. And I have been really engaged and trying on all of them (well maybe not so much the intellectual one). The social and spiritual ones are really important to me and I can feel that God is also engaged and wanting me to meet my goals. My social goal is all about improving my relationship with Levi using a 5:1 positive to negative interactions model and hair bands to remind myself. It's had a rocky start but I think it just such a high priority for me and I really want to be successful at it! I'm going to review all my goals later today and adjust and recommit to them.


Anyway, so that's what's been going on lately. And now for some pictures of my cute kids, our gradually coming together house, and the amazing holidays that we got to spend with both my family and Eric's! We super lucked out this year in that we got to spend a lot of time with both of our families and it was so relaxing and fun and amazing. We are seriously blessed beyond measure!!

Emery taking after big brother and "fixing" things

Sometimes these kiddos just crack me up! I love how convenient it is to be able to give them their snacks at the peninsula while I'm working in the kitchen- usually menu planning, putting away groceries or doing dishes. 

Levi is getting more into Legos and likes to show off his creations- especially to Auntie Katie or Daddy. 

Emma came by and helped me put up Levi's mountains one Saturday morning. We were intimidated at first but they actually went up pretty easily and it only took about an hour and a half. 

Levi was so excited to see them! 

Emery and Silva are still close and getting more into playing together. They get excited to see each other at family dinner and give each other hugs while Silva exclaims "Emmy! Emmy!"

We love to bake together! I usually give Emery a little bowl and a little wooden spoon too and put just a smidge of each ingredient in her bowl too for her to practice her stirring. 

 

Can't believe the positions my children contort themselves into while they watch tv! It's a very rare occurrence for Emery to actually sit on the couch and watch anything but this time I was sitting with them and couldn't help but notice that she was practically doing yoga while watching haha. 

When Daddy gets home in the evening the best play times start! 

The RS had a play date at a trampoline place in Frisco and my kids loved it! Especially the ball pit. Which was a little scary because it was super deep and Emery kept sinking down in it and I would have to reach in and pull her back out again. Anyway, once she got really deep and stuck so I actually had to jump in there and get her and my phone fell out of my pocket! And oh man, it is so hard to find anything once it is in the balls!! I felt around and around where I was standing when it happened and I could not find it! Thank heaven there were other RS sisters there! One of them held Emery for me and the other called my phone while I stood in the spot where I was when it fell out and thank goodness I could feel it vibrating through balls so I just felt my way toward the vibrations and found it. It was a scary little bit for a while though! I was really worried we wouldn't be able to find it! So I will be super extra careful from now on and never take my phone into the ball pit! 

I just have the cutest family! 

Emery's hair is now long enough for a ponytail and it is so adorable!

While we were in CA for Christmas (which was just the best) my parents took us and the kids to the Sonoma County children's museum and it was awesome! It was a lot like the children's museum in Portland except more compact and better in my opinion. The activities were more engaging to the kids for longer periods of time. I was pretty impressed. 

One of the nights we were there, my parents watched our kids and we got to go out with my sibs and their significant others. We went to Screamin' Mimis and to see Knives Out. It was soooo great to spend that time together with them! 

 

We also went on a family hike up Canyon trail to Lake Ilsanjo. Emery didn't want to ride in the ergobaby at first but after a few (many) adjustments, she got comfortable enough that she actually fell asleep! 

At church Sister Wiseman actually took our family's picture with a real camera and then got each of us a hard copy print. I just took a picture of it with my phone though. 

Wearing grandma's reading glasses and looking like the cutest little librarian ever. 

 

We got Emery a little chair for Christmas and she loves it. What with that, two more bookshelves I painted and the vinyl from Papi and Nona, her reading nook is now complete! 

We all had fun at the annual cousins bowling night! 

 

Declan is especially sweet and cute with Emery. 

My silly goose running around with no shirt and Levi's Catboy mask on her head. 

She tries to put on her own pants now! 

Last Saturday we had a light dusting of snow. Levi was sooo excited and had a great time playing outside with Daddy while I hid from the cold in our nice cozy house. 

A perk to shopping at Kroger and Costco, thanks to car carts I always have both of my kiddos seated and contained while I shop! And contrary to what Levi's face looks like in this picture they both love it too.