I was very relieved when Jared sent me this "proof of life" pic to let me know that Jake made it back to Portland without any problems on his first solo flight as a passenger and after our fiasco in getting him to the airport during the wee hours of that morning.
But I missed Jake's help and my built-in "I've-got-to-run-a-quick-errand" babysitting and his ability to see a need around the house and fill it. He's SUCH a good sport about all of it. Cooper could do the babysitting, too. However, living in a new place and not knowing anyone, I felt more comfortable with Jake in charge. Cooper missed him because, among other things he probably wouldn't readily admit to, he stumbled across a scary commercial on a channel that we don't watch as he was flipping through the channels. And two seconds of a scary image in that boy's head=weeks of problems for all of us. He could not and would not go to sleep, nor be in his bedroom alone any longer than he had to. Remember that jack-n-jill bathroom I mentioned earlier that connected our room with the boys' room?
I was cursing it that week. Every night, around 10pm, Cooper would come wandering through it, saying he was scared and couldn't sleep. Each and every time, I tried to comfort him. We said prayers together, we talked about happy things before I sent him back to his room. But he never stayed. He'd come through that blasted bathroom door three or four times before I was too tired to argue anymore. He won. He wore me down. I used this experience, however, to illustrate to Cooper how powerful images can be in your brain. They are not easily, if ever, disposed of and warned him to always run from pornography as if it were the plague because as bad as scary images are in your head, the sexual nature of pornography is truly a curse that will rack your mind and soul for a very long time.
*The missionaries serving in our College Station ward swung by at the beginning of the week. They came to check on us. They had helped us move in and remembering that Jared was a medical professional, they had actually called Jared on his cell and asked him for medical advice. In return, Jared asked them to make sure we were doing okay. One of the elders asked me right off the bat if Jared had served in a Bishopric. Since Jared was just a month or so removed from that calling, I was a little surprised by his question. I eyed the missionary with mock suspicion and said, "As a matter of fact, he has." The elder said he thought so and explained, "He seems like a Bishopric kind of a guy."
*Jared's laaaaast day at Dr. Hicken's private family practice office was Thursday, July 31st. It was a sad, sad day for him and "his girls"--the wonderful office women he's grown to love as his second family for the past eight years. Elizabeth, Lisa and Dawn took him out to dinner--Shirley is the only one missing.
Jared shared with me later that there were LOTS o' TEARS (more than he expected) shed that day from the girls when it was time for them to say the REAL good-bye. They said good-bye to me and the kids a month prior but it was totally manageable because Jared was coming back. But this time, he wasn't. Jared doesn't cry. In our almost two decades of marriage, I've seen him cry about four times--you do the math. That's about once every five years or so. But I know he was deeply touched and affected by the sorrow his girls were feeling as well as the heartbreak he was experiencing. It would never be the same for him once he left that office. Aside from being our doctor's office for the little versions of Jake (4) and Cooper (18 months) when we first arrived in Forest Grove, Oregon, that office served as a three month family practice rotation as part of Jared's schooling before he was hired (prior to graduating!) as a physician assistant and it was the place Jared devoted the first eight years of his career as a matchless, loyal employee. Jared was, dare I say, the heart of that office. So technically--we've known these wonderful women for ten years! My heart ached for the girls whom I grew to love as I worked along side them for seven of those ten years. I know how great Jared is to work with and be around and how much fun and joy he brings to the office, so I understood the hole he'd be leaving in his absence. It just wouldn't be the same without him. The office would have to try and find a new normal. It would be empty and blah for awhile. No one to cheer them up or make them laugh or do funny impressions or quote movies and ask for the reference. And Jared knew he wouldn't ever find girls who would have his back quite like these "core four."
Obviously, you can't sneak out of a ward or stake without people knowing and there is a plethora of patients who lived within our stake boundaries so many, many people knew of his departure. There were patients who cried when they heard Jared was moving or when he told them at their final office visit. We get texts and Facebook comments and emails to this day from patient friends expressing how much they still miss Jared. In fact, there were some patients Jared just didn't tell about his leaving. He figured in the long run, it would be better for them and him if they just found out the next time they came in. I wouldn't want to say goodbye 20-25 times a day over the course of several months, either. The Hicken Medical Clinic chapter was a very special one in Jared's life, in my life and for our children. It's one we'll revisit and cherish for a long time to come.
*Jake had a chance to say good-bye to his friend Josh one more time before taking off for good. They both shared a love for basketball, though Jake didn't make the 8th grade team and Josh did. Jake is about 5 feet, 5 inches in this picture. CRAY-ZEE!!!! I like to fondly refer to this duo as "Stockton and Malone" :)
*My guys spent the night in Lehi, Utah with Jared's parents and said, what they figured would most likely be, their final good-byes to Jared's grandma (Jake's great-grandma) Nina.
*I received THIS picture from Jared while on their drive back to Texas (Jared's second time by car in four weeks racking up a total of 5,000 miles...) with the caption that read "He's doing a great job keeping me awake, don't you think?!"
*At LOOOOONG last, Jared and Jake pulled into our duplex, finally utilizing the second parking spot on Wednesday, August 6th at around 3:30pm. I ran out back and threw myself in Jared's arms and hung on for dear life and cried. I was surprised by how difficult the last month had been for me, considering Jared had been away from home for two months straight when Jake was 5, Cooper was 2 and I was 3 months pregnant with Karcyn. And that wasn't the end of it. He came home for a day and left for another month to then come home for a couple weeks and travel overseas for another month. We were apart for FOUR months in 2005/6, not just four weeks and yet it was an amazing learning experience for me. I learned how strong I could be and that I truly could do hard things. Really hard things. And this was long before texting and smart phones that allowed you to Facetime or take and send pictures to each other. I've concluded that having good friends and some familiarity and structure makes ALL the difference! I'm so grateful I chose to stay in Forest Grove while Jared traveled to do his rotations. We had only lived in Forest Grove a year before Jared left, but it was enough to give us friends and love and a network.
Re-u-ni-ted and it feels so good...
*On Saturday, Aug. 9th, Jake had a youth baptism trip to go to. Our summer weekends were diminishing rapidly with school starting on Mon, Aug. 25th. So even though Jake wouldn't be with us, we took a trip to Lake Somerville while he was at the temple. We packed our suits, towels, sunscreen and lunches and off we went. Lake Somerville is a reservoir in the Brazos river basin about 10 miles northwest of Brenham, TX (which is southwest of College Station). The only thing we knew about Brenham is that it's the home of Blue Bell ice cream--which we've learned is pretty dang important to Texans. Not sure it can hold a candle to Tillamook ice cream, however. I don't even like ice cream that much, but could live off of Wild Mountain Blackberry. Mmmm.
We found a spot to park with (thankfully!) a covered picnic table and had a bit of a short hike down to the water. The end of the lake we were at didn't have an easy way into the water. It was mostly overgrown with grass and weeds and you had to step down into it. We eventually found a spot that kind of eased into the water and was cleared out a bit. We didn't think to bring a big float tube we used at Lost Lake with my parents a few years ago. That would have been perfect. But the little kids had their life jackets and that was good enough.
The water!!! Holy warm. I cannot believe how warm it was. It would put you to sleep if you weren't careful! We played around with each other, tossed some balls around, shot at each other with water blasters and swam for a bit before heading up to the picnic table for lunch. It sure didn't take long for us to dry off either. After lunch, we packed up and drove around some more in the park. We found a quaint little general store and noticed they had a small freezer with what else?? Blue Bell ice cream! Everyone selected their own ice cream treat. I expected the cost to be about $2-3 a piece. You know how those small stores can be. Imagine my surprise when the total cost was only $5!! They were less than $1 each! Things like that just make my frugal little heart go pitter-patter!!
We found a bench in the shade outside the store and sat down to eat our cool treats. And in the August Texas sun, that's something we need to learn to do quickly! Seconds after sitting down, Karcyn erupted with screaming and wailing. She was grabbing her ankle but couldn't speak. Poor thing had been stung a couple times by a yellow jacket. Dumb wasp. We grabbed some ice from our water jug and did what we could to comfort and help her while simultaneously trying to get her to eat her ice cream before it became a liquid mess. We needed a picture of our trip, so here it is. With poor Karcyn still feeling the pain of her stings :(
*On Sunday, Aug. 10th, Cooper spoke in Primary. He actually prepared a talk this time (I think it was the first time he has ever prepared a talk before Sunday since turning 8) and did outstanding! The picture below was as far as JJ got (less than 2 feet) from the back door after coming home from church at 4pm that afternoon. Nursery is exhausting!
Later that evening (at 6pm) Jared and I attended the annual Stake High Priest Meeting. The Houston Mission recently got a new president and we were fortunate enough to have President and Sister Mortensen come and speak to us. I ran into Sister Mortensen in the bathroom before the meeting started and in our chit chat, I told her we had just moved here. Turns out, our families moved here about the same time--only they came from California! I'm not sure how I feel about the mission president being just eight years older than me and I suspect his wife is probably closer to me in age than that!! We enjoyed the meeting and learned of the new changes (mainly with iPads) that would be taking place within the mission.
Texas Houston Mission
Mark A. and Kristina B. Mortensen
Sister Mortensen serves as a gospel doctrine teacher and is a former counselor in a ward Primary presidency, ward Young Women adviser and ward Primary teacher. Born in Huntington Beach, California, to D. Thomas Borgquist and Leslie Bleak Borgquist.
*With orientation and "onboarding" complete, Jared officially started his new job on Monday, Aug. 11th, the same day JJ turned 3! We had a lot to celebrate that day. And JJ's mean mom put trick candles on his cake :)
*Jake had his freshman orientation (sans parents) on Thursday the 14th and got his schedule: Honors Eng 1, Honors World Geography, Dance (fine arts), basketball (PE), Spanish 1, pre-AP biology, and pre-AP geometry--with geometry as the last class of the day. (Really?? Any math class scheduled after lunch should be illegal!) Jake's class load gives me little bit of mommy anxiety. And in fact, he could have taken pre-AP English and pre-AP world geography, but since he doesn't *love* those subjects, he decided to opt out of pre-AP and just do the honors track so hopefully those courses will at least be his speed but not overwhelming and boring with a never-ending stream of books to read and papers or projects to complete. I thought that was a wise decision.
*Jared and I went on our monthly trip to the temple on Sat. the 16th, leaving at 5:15am to make the 7am session. Later Jared had to take a much dreaded Department of Transportation (DOT) examination as he'd be dealing with DOT physicals galore as an Occupational Medicine PA in his new job. All the docs he had talked to about it told him it was super hard and to not freak out too much if he got a low score. Turns out, my stud-muffin passed it with flying colors--even got a higher score than the doctors :)
*Sunday, the 17th, Jake was the youth speaker (we notice they don't have the youth speak every week--because there's not enough youth to go around, maybe?) and gave his fourth talk in Sacrament meeting in the past two and a half years. He spoke on his favorite General Conference talk, "Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease" given by Elder Bednar. He did a wonderful job. Before he spoke, Bishop Sharp, by way of introduction, shared that Jake was new in the ward, but that he fits right in with his quorum and it seems as if he's been here for years.
Before we went to church Calvin wanted to try some Texas salsa. He did and then proceeded to gulp down an entire glass of milk because it was so hot. Later that night, he wanted some chips and salsa. I told him no, mainly because I couldn't spare any more milk to put out fires in his mouth. He went into his persuasive mode and kept insisting it would be fine. "Mom! I promise. It'll be okay. It won't spice me!" Nice try, buddy.
*On Tuesday, Aug. 19th, we had "Meet the Teacher" at Green's Prairie Elementary school for Karcyn and Calvin. This was where we could also bring our supplies and the school would have free ice cream for the kids. It went from 4:30-6. We left the duplex around 4:10 and got there about 4:18. And my jaw dropped when I saw the fleet of cars spilling over onto both sides of the road, in both directions. There wasn't a place in sight to park. This picture was before I even got TO the school.
This was after coming out of the parking lot. I drove in there "just in case" a spot had been vacated. I cannot express how frustrating the lack of parking at schools is. Apparently it's not just in Oregon!
We finally found a spot further down the street and grabbed all the bags with school supplies and slowly made the hike to the school. The ice cream was in the cafeteria but I opted first to dump off the supplies with the teachers. We headed to Calvin's first grade classroom and met a wonderfully outgoing Ms. Latone--the cutest thing that ever was. I loved her southern accent and how she interacted with the kids. She has a love of dachshunds that you could spot a mile away. Everything in her room was dachshund. When I introduced her to Calvin, she exclaimed, "Oh!! You just moved here from Oregon!" We thought it was cool she remembered that. Her room was as colorful as she was. I was super excited for Calvin's first grade experience! He found his desk and we counted 16 or 17 students TOTAL!
On the smart board, Ms. Latone had each child's name cycle through individually so that they could spot their name as it flashed by. They were all written in different ways with different fonts. This was Calvin's.
Then we were off to Karcyn's third grade class. Her teacher was Mrs. Hughes--ironically, how people try to pronounce our name sometimes. We dumped Karcyn's supplies off, found her desk and did more of the same with paperwork. Mrs. Hughes appeared to be a no-nonsense kind of teacher. She has a southern accent too, but it's a little more intimidating. Not my preferred personality, but there was nothing wrong with it either. We didn't hang around to take pictures of Karcyn's room. Karcyn has what they call a "switch" teacher. His name is Mr. Rhine and his room was right across from her classroom. Her entire class would switch to him for Language Arts and Social Studies. Mrs. Hughes would teach math and science to both classes.
As we walked to the cafeteria to get ice cream, I made purposeful observations. This would be the school's fourth year since opening. It still looked brand new. The floors were gleaming, the walls were pristine. It even smelled new. I really liked how each grade level has its own pod and the classrooms branch off of that pod. In the pod are computers and desks for each child. They also have tables, as needed. At the entrance of each pod is a large bathroom area for the boys and the girls. Additionally, I have since noticed that each grade level has their own supply room (papers of all colors/sizes/types; books/readers; other supplies left over that teachers don't want to store in their room; a printer connected to the teachers' computers in that pod; a paper slicer; a microwave; coffer maker; and mini fridge). There is a main work room with a large commercial copier, etc. but how nice for the teachers to have a workroom that does the job 90% of the time right at their finger tips!
As we entered the cafeteria, I was dismayed to find about seven different lines of people, for what--I didn't know. By the time we figured out where the ice cream line would have been, we learned that they ran out!! It wasn't even 5:30 yet! You know, I've never been in charge of anything of this magnitude, so it probably isn't fair for me to say anything, buuuut...if you're going to advertise that you're giving out ice cream or any treat, you'd better make darn sure there's enough for ALL the kids. Restrict it to only the kids who are attending the school and not the siblings if you have to (our school in Oregon did that one year) or overbuy. My poor kids were trying to hold back tears of disappointment because their efficient momma had chosen poooor-ly by saving that until the end. Their new school had already let them down and the year hadn't even started yet. As we got in line for the free t-shirts (yes, every student gets a school t-shirt and it's FREE!) skipping the line to pay for the yearbooks when I realized they were TWEN-TY bucks each!, I told Karcyn and Calvin I'd take them to HEB so they could pick out some ice cream there. This smoothed over their disappointment and after we got our shirts we headed back out towards our car. In one of the hallways between the cafeteria and the front door, I noticed a display table with the yearbooks. I picked one up and asked, just to make sure I heard correctly, if they were indeed $20 each. They were. In their defense, they were 8 1/2 x 11 in size and full color pages and lots of extra pictures from each grade level were included. So, to be fair, I couldn't compare the 4x8 little flip book with pictures of just the staff and student body from our old school for only $7 with this Texas-sized, soft cover yearbook. But it was definitely an expense I was NOT prepared for. I'd have to pay for those in increments. Not paying for school shirts, kind of evens it out, I suppose.
*On Wednesday, August 20th, Karcyn began her ballet 1 class. We LOVED having her in Ms. Heidi's Creative Dance back in Oregon. She and her mom worked miracles and though we paid tuition, it wasn't nearly enough for what they did. I was SO dang bummed we'd have to leave this gem of a place behind. But imagine my great excitement when, just up the road from our new home, I spotted Suzanne's School of Dance. On the front of the building were the words, "A Ministry in Motion." Wow! Trying to find a dance studio with Christian values and standards similar to ours was a huge relief and blessing! They even have verses from the Bible on vinyl cut-outs on the walls and they end their lessons with prayers that the girls take turns offering. The lessons were the same length of time and once a week, like Oregon and tuition was only about $10 more a month. So we felt it was a no-brainer to get Karcyn involved in this again. I couldn't wait to see her dance! Interestingly though, there is no winter program. The spend the whole year practicing for their spring recital.
*With Jared back in town, we would swing by the house under construction to check on its progress. One evening, we noticed our neighbors on the corner were in their driveway. We walked over and introduced ourselves. Their names are Mike and Mary. Easy to remember :) Hopefully Jenn and Jared are too! We found out they have three boys. Their two oldest are the EXACT same ages as Jake and Cooper, entering the same grades as our boys--6th and 9th We couldn't believe our fortune. We weren't holding our breath for any kids on our cul-de-sac or street, let alone kids of the same age and gender right next door!
Here are some pictures of the interior progress:
Cabinets are in! Once the counters go in, it won't be much longer.
Jared peeked in the pantry and let out an audible gasp. I was worried and exclaimed, "What?? What is it??" He said, "They've got your pantry shelves in!" And not just on the long wall...(there is a nook around that right corner!)
but the short wall on the right side, too!
A nook next to the stairs.
On the top landing upstairs looking to the left at the door to the little boys' room (closest) and in the background is the door to the big boys room with the bathroom in between the two.
Jared's pointing and smiling at our most anticipated room yet--the GAME ROOM--on the opposite end of the hall from the boys' rooms. That door was the only custom thing we did (and were allowed). The original plan calls for a walkway, no door.
And finally the kitchen :) Sink and dishwasher on the left, stove and hood microwave straight ahead. Island in the middle (to the right in the picture), eating area to the far right, and I'm standing where the fridge will be.
*We loved watching the gas prices continue to drop! When we left Oregon we were paying $3.81 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. By the time we got to Oklahoma, we were paying $3.45 per gallon. I didn't pay much attention to it in July and we weren't really going anywhere anyway. Two days after Jared rolled into town (8/8) we went to join the Sam's Club membership. Oh, how we miss Costco! However, their gas prices made my heart soar. AND...we are IN and OUT of the gas pump in NO time! We certainly DO NOT miss the long lines at the gas stations in Oregon--even if it is to create more jobs. If I recall, the gas prices were dropping nation-wide though. I was thrilled for our Oregonian friends to be enjoying relief at the pump as well.
Gas price on August 18, 2014.
Gas price on August 29, 2014
*JJ exerting his independence and slicing his own banana. Soon it would just be me and him home all day together when the kids start school. Kindergarten was only half day (every day) in Oregon so Calvin was around half of the time. But now...Calvin will be gone all day. Hope JJ doesn't go crazy!!
*On Saturday, August 23rd, we spent the ENTIRE day (after driving the 3 hours to get there) in Fort Worth. We met my Cooper relatives (my mom's only brother/sibling)--my Uncle Richard and his wife, Aunt Jan and their two kids, Rusty and Lisa in addition to Lisa's husband, Steve and their two boys, Aiden and Mason. That trip is chronicled here. It was a BLAST!!
After we had lunch with them, we headed east about an hour and a half to see our friends the McGraths in a suburb of Dallas. We lived in the Farmington Ward together, our kids are the same ages and we both moved to Texas just a few weeks apart! CRAZY!!
Jake and Brody--Deacon's quorum buddies--whose birth dates are just a couple days apart.
Me and Melinda--my hair's wet because I had just done the ALS "ice bucket challenge."
We had a yummy dinner and then, sadly had to run. It was 3 1/2 hours back to College Station. We got home around 10:30pm. We had considered crashing with them for the night, but Jared was speaking in Sacrament meeting the next day, so we had to get back.
We waited and waited and waited for the elementary school bus to come. A couple buses passed us, but none of them stopped.When older kids started to join us at the bus stop, I had a sinking feeling something was amiss. I told Cooper good-bye, scooped up JJ who was still in his PJs and started half-walking, half-running back to the duplex with the two little kids in tow. I told Karcyn and Calvin I was really sorry, but something went wrong and I had to drop them off at school. School started around 7:45 with a morning assembly. The tardy bell rings at 8:05. We rolled in, hot, sweaty and out of breath as we tried navigating a crazy first-day-of-school crowd at 8:10. I was devastated for the kids. No one likes to be rushed and walking in late. I told the teachers the bus never came and apologized profusely. Fortunately, my kids recovered quickly. I, on the other hand, did not and let Transportation know as much. Turns out the bus stop for the kids didn't exist! They had to create one since we're the only kids that are in the duplex area that use the bus. And it would pick them up at 7:10am and drop off around 3:30. I just hope the kids remember where to get off!
*On Tuesday, August 26th, Jared has his first pack meeting. Once he was in Texas permanently, the Bishopric extended a call for him to serve as the Cubmaster...not just for our ward, but for all three wards, since they combine to increase their numbers. He joked that his buddy, Darrin Hancock, the other counselor in the Bishopric in Oregon (over Primary) would double over in laughter to find out that was his calling. It's so hard to keep any primary calling staffed and consistent. I know! I used to be a Primary president. It's so hard!! But Jared's doing some really good things with the pack.
*On Wednesday, August 27th, JJ was evaluated (finally!) by Special Services at the school district for his lack of speech. The team was very kind and understanding. They loved JJ. I prayed I would be able to give them accurate answers when they asked about him at home and the number of times he does certain things or this or that. I have a terrible memory when it comes to relaying this kind of information. And prayed that if I didn't give the right info or forgot something that it wouldn't be to his detriment. He really, really needs to get speech help. After the 2 hour evaluation by speech pathologists and occupational and physical therapists, I was told it would be 45 days before we would know the result of their findings. (Grrrreeeat. More waiting...)
*We rounded out August by attending a "New Family Social" hosted by the Bishopric and the presidents of each auxiliary to welcome the families that were new to the ward in recent months. It was fun to get to know the new people because when you're new, everyone is new but now we knew who else was new! :) Calvin was outside swinging, talking to our new friend Bonnie. She said our kids crack her up. Calvin told her in his outgoing, laid back fashion, "Sooo--we're living in Meadowcreek and no--wait. We're living in Creek Meadows and we're building a house in Meadowcreek." Then he just shook his head and said, "It's sooo confusing." He's right on both accounts...we were renting in Creek Meadows and would be living in Meadowcreek eventually and it IS confusing. They couldn't come up with more creative, less similar subdivision names??
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