MIA no longer!

It's crazy to think that almost 6 months have passed since the last time I updated our blog! And what a whirlwind those months have been. We have hit the highest of highs and lowest of lows. I'm glad to say that now that things are settling down a little, I think we've come out better than hoped for. 

So what's new since October, you ask? Well, the current list includes:

• New year

• New town (in a new state)

• New house

• New ward

• New police officer job for Levi

• New loan specialist job for Brittany

and pretty much, a whole new life!

Levi started working for Chubbuck City Police Department mid-December, and then in January they sent him to the Idaho POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) academy. That meant that every Sunday, he would leave Logan, drive to Pocatello to meet up with the other newly hired officers, & they would ride to Meridian together. Friday nights after class, he would hurry back to Poky and then on to Logan. Roughly 10 hours of driving total each weekend. By the end of the 10 week academy, we were both FRIED. 

While Levi was learning arrest techniques, emergency vehicle maneuvers, and criminal code, I was still living in Logan working 10-12 hour days at Thermo and spending the evenings looking for a job and house in Idaho. (Geez, just rereading that sentence made me want a nap.) By mid-March, everything was starting to come together. My last day working for Thermo Fisher was on the 12th, we closed on our house on the 13th, Levi graduated from the POST academy on the 14th, we moved on the 15th, Levi started at the police station on the 17th and I started at Idaho Central Credit Union on the 18th!
What a week!! 

Couldn't be prouder of my Officer Nutt and all his hard work!

Aaannnd this is what it looks like when you are finally done with 10 weeks of insanity. Ü 

Now that things seem to be calming down a little, we are excited to get settled into our new life and maybe start on our house project list. Yay! Ü

The Mighty Hunter / Things I Hear The Kids Say

Levi had a successful hunt last week! He had asked for almost a full week off work so he could go chase the animals in the woods, but he ended up getting a nice 4-point on opening day. Yay!


I think his shirt is very appropriate. :)
But does anyone else feel like the deer is almost smirking in this picture??



I decided I'd better start using some PTO too, so while he was off being a manly man I went and played at Mom and Dad's. Ü

As I soaked up getting to be with my family for 3 days straight, I started really listening to the things they said (mostly Morgan and Zane). At our house, Levi and I talk about a) work, b) who has to teach the Sunday School lesson that week, c) Harry Potter, or d) how we can incorporate bacon with our next meal. That's pretty much it. I know. We're boring.

When they moved to Nebraska, Zane was 4 and Morgan was 7, so I still expect them to be . . . not so big and grown up! So allow me to share some of the conversations that I found most interesting/hilarious. (If you don’t know the kids very well, this will probably not amuse you in the slightest and I will not be offended if you skip to the next post now.)

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Mo and Zane (ages 10 and 7), discussing whether or not to watch “The Little Mermaid”.

·         Mo: "Ooo this was on at Speech last week! But I didn’t get to watch it, I just kinda saw the part where they’re all 'daadada dada dada daaaadaaaaa' [basically monotonous, incoherent singing], you know?"

·         Zane: "Oh, the Under The Sea song. Yeah, that’s a good part."

---

Mo and Zane, now watching the end of “The Little Mermaid”.

·         Mo: "Oh no! Is he going to try to steer the boat into Ursula?? What?!?"

·         Zane: "Well, he’s spent his entire life sailing the sea, so he’s pretty good at steering a boat by now." [Sometimes that kid’s logic surprises me.]

---

I made dinner.

·         Mo: "What are we having?"

·         Brit: "Enchiladas!!"

·         Mo and Zane: "Ohhh….. we don’t like enchiladas..."

·         Brit: "Oh good, I was just kidding – It’s Mexican lasagna….."

·         Mo and Zane: "YAAAY!"

---

I’m doing my makeup in the bathroom. Suddenly Zane’s voice is coming out of the heat vent at my feet.  Apparently they’ve discovered they can communicate from one end of the house to the other by yelling thru the heat vents. I was laughing too hard to be able to tell who said what.

·         "What are you doing??"

·         "Heating up my socks!! What are you doing??"

·         "Talking to you!! And looking for pants…"

---

I introduced the kids to the NFL Bad Lip Reading on YouTube. If you’ve never seen it, it is hilarious. For the rest of the weekend, I would randomly hear Zane spout off phrases from that video (which I'm sure Mom was thrilled about hehehe), such as the following:

·         “An orange peanut? An orange peanut for me? Wooowwww… Well I accept you.

·         “I want it now!! I want cake now!”

·         “Double side of Scooby snack.”

·         “Come pick up all your floor bags, you’re not living in southeast Asia!”

  

 So grateful to be so close to those we love!!  (And to have a full freezer for another year. Ü)

Adventures (& near drowning) at Lagoon

A couple weeks ago, Levi and I drove down to Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, UT to spend the day. As we left, I threw a few towels in the car, just in case we decided to do the Lagoon-A-Beach water park in the afternoon.

 

We ran around like crazies all day, enjoying the patches of autumn sunshine, eating carnival food, and trying to make sure we hit every ride at least once, especially once we realized it wasn't really hot enough to enjoy the water rides.

 

By about 5:00 pm, we were exhausted but still having fun.

 

 

Then we felt the raindrops. At first it was just a sprinkle. And then a steady drizzle. Levi said "Let's go on one last ride and then we can go, ok? I've never been on this one!"  I grudgingly agreed. It did look like a pretty cool ride.

 

Photo credit: Bing Images.
If I had taken this picture, there would be half as many people. And they would all be wearing rain ponchos.

 

And then . . . it poured.

 

Levi tried to shield me but we couldn't really tell what direction the rain was coming from. They had to keep stopping the ride between each group, to run tests to make sure it was still safe to run in the rain. So while we had waited in line for only a few minutes ALL day, this line took us 30 minutes to get through. And when we were finally the next in line to get on, we realized that we'd left the windows in the car cracked. Oops!

 

At long last we got on the ride, and as it got up to speed I thought Surely this is how it feels to be inside a washing machine... I tried hard not to scream, since I was pretty sure that would result in drowning. Levi giggled like a girl and had a blast, so I suppose the whole ordeal was worth it.

 

As we splashed away towards the gates of the park, we saw that none of the other rides were going anymore and most of the people had already left or were cowering under the eaves of the buildings. We were part of the few crazy enough to still go on an amusement park ride in the middle of a monsoon.

 

This picture is super blurry because A) I was not about to stop moving towards the car, B) because my phone is inside the Ziploc I'd brought, in the event we suddenly decided to go on a water ride, and C) did I mention how hard it was raining?

 

It's not easy to run through a parking lot/swimming pool with drenched jeans that weigh 90 lbs, and it's impossible to do so and look even remotely graceful at the same time. SO glad we had brought towels!

 

Turns out - EVERY ride is a water ride in a downpour. Who knew. :)

Birthday Month

Holy cow this summer has been crazy! August is birthday month in our family - Zane's is Aug 11th and Morgan's is Aug 22nd. Thankfully, they're really good sports about celebrating their birthdays together every year. (I'm sure it helps that we have about 4 birthday parties for them total throughout the month.)

 

The first weekend in August, Uncle Rick and Aunt Sharon came over from Oregon and we got to spend a couple days shopping and BBQing with them. Morgan and Zane showed us how good they've gotten with their BB Guns they got on Christmas. And it's not a birthday party without cake - and Aunt Sharon found a good one!

 

 

Then this weekend, we celebrated some more! Levi and I drove up to Mom and Dad's on Saturday to go swimming at Jefferson Lake.

 

 

And then Sunday my family came out to the farm in Arbon Valley for the first time for even MORE partying. (I'm telling ya, it literally lasts all month!) My awesome balloon bouquets flew away in the wind before I could snap a picture, but trust me, they were adorable: Animals for Mo, and Spiderman for Zane. And they matched their gift bags perfectly. The kids had a blast running around with the dogs, playing on the swing set and hammock, and jumping on the trampoline.

 

 
They are such good kids. When we realized that Zane's birthday was only a couple weeks away (seriously, where DID July go??), Mom asked him what he wanted. "Mmmm..... I will be happy with whatever you get me!" :) After they left the farm, Ken and Melinda both commented on how easygoing and well-behaved they are. Made me feel like a proud momma - er, Big Sister. I only wish I could take credit!

Happy 4th!

Every year, I think "We're going to keep the 4th a simpler holiday this year. It shouldn't have to feel so chaotic." Aaaand then it ends up being CRAZY. This year, we drove to Pocatello on the 3rd to stay with our friends Dustin and Cami in their beautiful new house. Dustin is one of the M7 boys, and they've been our neighbors ever since we got married, so we're missing them a TON. (Now who am I supposed to borrow powdered sugar from at 10 PM when I randomly decide to make a cake??)

We went to the Pocatello parade in the morning, and tried our best not to melt away. It was HOT.

Levi's tradition is that you HAVE to go swimming on the 4th. So we found a spot on the river that was semi-shaded (although extremely dusty), ate our pizza, and then Cami and I decided we were done sweating to death. ...Plus, that water looked like you would probably start glowing green if you swam in it too long. So she and I packed up little Hadli, and went back to her house to take a nap while everyone else swam. :) THAT should be one of my 4th of July traditions... napping.... it's Patriotic right?

When everyone was finally together again, we had our usual M7 Independence Day BBQ, and then Levi and I jetted up to Mom's to watch the Menan fireworks. The kids were so excited that we made it in time.

Zane couldn't stand still long enough for a non-blurry picture.
Sparklers are just too exciting!

Our plan was to stay the night with Mom and Dad, and then come home, but what's the use of being young if you can't be spontaneous? Deciding that it would be a great weekend to go camping, we left Mom's at 11:30 PM Thursday night, made it home at 2 AM, and left the next day to go camping. It was definitely worth it though.

A thunderstorm rolled over us as we were cooking dinner, but other than that the weather was beautiful!