Finally our house.

I have been really excited to post pictures of our new house, even though it is far from being all put together. New carpeting will be installed in a few weeks, we have yet to build the pantry, no painting has been done, and there are still lots of boxes to be unpacked. Despite all of that, we are really excited to be living here.

Where to start? Here is the front of the house.

As you walk into the front entry, this is the view of the living room.

This is the opposite side of the living room. Originally we thought we would put carpeting down in this room, but once we got here we realized it will be nice. Especially with it being a heavy traffic area.

Going back to where you first walk in, to your left is a small hallway where you will see the guest bedroom, the girls bedroom, the bathroom, and the coat/game and toy closet. This is what our soon to be guest room looks like now. At the moment it is our "catch all" room. Please excuse the disaster.

Right next to that room is the girl's bedroom. The bedrooms in this house are quite a bit smaller than our last house, so I am feeling this room is kind of crowded. We might be getting bunk beds, but that is a ways down the road. I am still undecided on how I want to decorate their room. I have never painted or done anything fun, so we will see how it turns out eventually.

Here is one angle of the room....

then the other.

Here is the girl's bathroom. The night we walked into our house for the first time, I immediately told Corky that I wanted to have the sliding shower doors taken off. It makes it a little difficult to bathe little kids with it, and more importantly the cute shower curtain that we have used for a couple of years would go to waste. We couldn't let that happen. Without having to ask him, that was the first "honey-do" that Corky did the next morning. Here is before.

then after!

Now here we have the office/craft room. It didn't look too bad at one point but then we had to shuffle a bunch of stuff around and now this is how it currently sits as we wait for a few more things to get done.

On to the dining room. I love how open it is right now, but it will be changing soon. On that bare wall in the back, that is where we will have the pantry built. You can see in the following picture that on top of the wall is potting shelf. We will build the pantry to be symmetrical to that, molding and all. We think it will look nice. Besides, I don't know how much longer I can go without having a pantry. You can only cram so much into a cupboard.
another angle.

As much as I am over my apple-themed kitchen that I have had for almost 5 years, I don't know what else I would do and I don't want a completely bare kitchen....so the apples stay for now. I don't mind them as much anymore, or maybe it is just that I am excited for my new kitchen.


Here is our master bedroom. What I love most is that I don't have to zigzag between my bed and furniture to get to the bathroom.

And finally, the master bathroom. Why is that the bathrooms always get finished off before anything else? In my case, because they are the smallest and less work. You spend hardly any time in them but walk away feeling like you have accomplished at least something.



And I think that is about it. Our carpet has been ordered and will go into each of the bedrooms. The backyard isn't anything to die for but it isn't nearly as small as I thought it was. It has no grass or landscape of any kind. other than weeds, random rose bushes, and what we think is an apricot tree. (our neighbor Bob at least thinks that is what it is)

Sorry for all the pictures but thanks for looking. We are excited and feel very fortunate to live here. Things worked out for us perfectly and we look forward to being here for a long time.

Goodbye "stuff"! See you soon!

This was April 1st. Gracey insisted on eating her lunch on the front porch so that she could maintain her front row seat to the moving truck and the movers!




Here she is saying goodbye to our stuff, trusting us when we tell her that she will see her princess dress-up treasure chest at the new house! (which I still haven't found in all my unpacking...no worries though. Still have about 25 more boxes to go through!)

There we were....

An almost empty house only filled with boxes and moving supplies. This was Monday, March 31st. The movers had packed up all the things for the day, waiting for the following day to load the truck. Not much else to do since we didn't have computer, tv, toys, or books....so its only natural to make use with what you have.

Corky and Emily found the dolly quite amusing! Also, doing acrobatics off of the empty entertainment center!

Sundays at Ft. Irwin.

All the things I wanted to do and talk about at Ft. Irwin, I saved until the very end. Very typical of me. The most rewarding and by far my favorite thing about living there was our branch. It was small, but not really small. I am pretty sure it qualifies to be an actual ward but we don't have a church building to call our own. The church owns some property just outside the military property, about 20 minutes away, but apparently, and it hasn't been comfirmed or denied, but tortoises have more rights than people and so there has been lots of problems getting it finally built. Anyway, so the branch has made do with what is provided by the military installation. While it has its trials, it is one of the many things that made the branch so unique.

Come along with me as I guide you through an LDS Sunday service.

We first start out at the Blackhorse chapel. It is a non denominational chapel that has about 20 rows. This is where we hold our sacrament meeting services. The children in this room outnumber the adults by a lot. Just when I felt my children were by far the worst behaving children in the room, I would look around and think to myself "Its like WWF in here!" All the parents seemed to be wrestling their little ones! It was so much fun and I will always miss the buzz that could be heard in the middle of the meeting of so many children.

After sacrament meeting, everyone gets into their cars and drives to the Catholic chapel where primary is held. We do our best to make this large activity room look like an LDS primary room!

After sharing/music time, the children then walk next door to this building. It is called the Family Ministry building. It is designated for the teaching of children of any faith. The walls are always scattered with pictures from children who are there in the middle of the week that are learning bible stories and coloring pictures about Jesus, Noah's Ark, Moses, Easter, etc. This building is also where we would have enrichment meetings most of the time.


While the children are in primary, the adults go to this building where Sunday school is held. There are some small classrooms that are in the back of a small bank. Sunday school is usually crowded when the men and women are combined (like I really know, I have been in Primary for how long?) But then they split for priesthood and relief society lessons, those classrooms are just the right size.


And here are a couple of pictures of just a few of the people that we love and will miss so much there.

This is Corky and the rest of the branch presidency. I had to literally track down a couple of them before they went home so I could get this picture! They are all good sports! Left to right Ben C. (ward clerk), Mark A. (branch president), Corky (2nd counselor), Eric S. (1st counselor)

This is me with a couple of my friends that worked in the primary with me. From left to right. Alisa Y., Me, Lori C., Mindy L., Kelly S., Carey A.

This branch will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Hello from Kingman.

So we are here. Our internet isn't set up in our house yet so I am at the library right now and time is limited. But a couple of quick things.

The library here is AWESOME! We have been here at least 4 times this week, looking at books and playing with puzzles. The story time is so much fun for thekids. Maybe because I am only used to Ft. Irwin's tiny library, but this one is great!

We were in our house for 4 days maybe when Gracey was playing around and sliced her forehead, right above her left eyebrow. Yep, it required stitches. Can someone please tell me this accident prone phases of hers will be over soon.

We love our house. We were both nervous since we only saw it once and didn't pay much attention to it. Now being in it, Corky and I both wonder why it didn't strike us as being "the house" in the first place.

We have eaten out more this week than we had in the past 12 months!! Gross.

And that is about all I have time for now! I can't wait to have internet at my house so that I can post pictures!! I have some from Ft. Irwin that I want to post and some new ones. So stay tuned my peeps!

Conversations worth noting.

Today, like everyday, I asked Gracey how her day was at school. Today she told me this story, I thought it was worth recording!

"Mom, today Ms. Tina said 'Come here, Grace.' and I said, 'Ms. Tina, it's not Gwace, it's Gwacey." and then I thought 'whateber!'"

When did my 3 year old become such a big girl?

Another story from tonight as we drove home from the bowling alley, Corky was telling Gracey that tomorrow a really big truck was going to come and load our things. He described the truck as being bigger than her head. She said "no, my head is small!" After a few seconds of Corky trying to explain that that is what he meant, I jumped in and told them both to "drop it." Gracey started crying and when we asked her what the matter was she replied "I don't want to drop my head!"

We can't help but smile.

So after getting a picture taken in your Easter dresses.....

Then looking at what the Easter bunny brought you.....

It's only natural to be found digging in the dirt in your pretty Easter dress.

Right?

recent loveys

Moonlight path shampoo, from Bath and Body works. I got this as a party favor from a baby shower and LOVE IT! It makes my hair feel really clean and I can smell it on my head for 2 days. I don't use the conditioner either, all the smell comes straight from the shampoo. Since getting this, I have used the other flavor of Coconut Lime Verbena but it doesn't linger nearly as nice as this scent does.Egg salad sandwiches. They are one of the best parts about having lots of hard boiled easter eggs hanging around.

My new Checi foot file thingy. This thing is amazing! My heels have never, ever been so smooth and soft. My feet are softer now than they are when I walk out of a professional pedicure.

My target brand knock off of Jergen's Daily Glow self tanning lotion. This stuff brings my skin down a knotch, from flourescent to bright white. It doesn't stink and it dries really quickly.

Nerds, the candy. My girls scored big with them this year at the St. George City Easter Egg hunt....I am reaping the benefits.

My space bags. They are saving me tons of room as I am packing our house up. I can put all my sweaters, pillows, blankets, socks, and underwear in them. Then I just vacuum all the air out and voila! They are flat as a pancake!

The Name Game

Corky Travis-
Yes, his real name is Corky. The first time we met and he told me his name, I said "is that your real name, like on your birth certificate?" (I was so tactful, right?) The story goes that his dad came home from some army training, at Ft. Irwin of all places, and told his mom that their next son would be named Corky. Apparently Corky's mom and Grandma Ruby (Corky's grandmother) fought him on that name for a long time but to no avail. Apparently the compromise was Jean, his mom, could pick whatever she wanted for the middle name. Travis seemed normal enough to balance out the first name I guess.

Morgan Velette (pronounced vull-(rhymes with full) et (rhymes with pet))
My first name is after the famous model from the 70's, Morgan Fairchild. My dad had a big crush on her and really like her name. Growing up, I wasn't a huge fan. Even though I always knew I was named after a woman, I still felt like Morgan was more of a boy name. I don't care too much anymore. My middle name is my mom's middle name and my great-grandma's middle name. At least I wasn't name after her full name, her full name was Bertha Velette Skilicorn. I definitely didn't like it growing up, but I liked that my middle initial was a V for some reason.

Gracey Mae
I have had this name picked out for my first-born daughter since I was about 12. Corky barely had a say in it. Luckily he liked it or else we would have had issues. For some reason, ending Gracey with an "ey" just seemed a little more girlie girl to me and something inside me knew that Gracey would be a tomboy, so that was intentional. Her middle name just seemed to flow with her first name. My grandmother's middle name is also Mae, so I figured I could spell it the same and to tie them together somehow.

Emily Velette (see pronunciation above)
This name is a little more random. All while I was pregnant with Emily, I thought we would name her Rachel. I LOVE the name Rachel but will admit now that something wasn't sitting well with me everytime I would tell people we were naming her Rachel. I hated that because I loved the name so much. One day when I was about 8 months pregnant with her, Corky came home and said "A name came to mind today that struck me. What do you think of Emily?" It was seriously like a weight was lifted of my chest. I responded, kind of sighing "Ohhh, I like it!" She was Emily Velette from there on out. What's kind of funny is the girl that I was a nanny for in Connecticut was named Emily, but I had never considered that name until that day Corky mentioned it. So its kind of fun to have that name tied to a special time in my life.

She just couldn't catch a break.

Gracey had quite the dramatic week last week. First, she and corky were wrestling in the front room one evening and somehow she had a run-in with the table. Here are pictures of the night of, and the next morning. You can see it wasn't a tiny little bump, but this is one tough girl. She makes her daddy proud.

As if the head bump wasn't bad enough, Gracey looses her footing at the playground. Gracey is the most coordinated 3 year old I have ever known, but she simply missed a step and ate a stair. Nearly knocking out her 2 front teeth and cutting her lip pretty badly. She freaked out from all the blood and I luckily before it started gushing out of her mouth too badly, I was able to put one of her front teeth back in its place. (gross, right?!) We ran across the street to my friends house where we were able to clean up a bit before heading our way to the E.R. There wasn't anything that could be done for her lip since it was all cut on the inside but they were concerned about her teeth. One of our closest friends and a member of our branch is a dentist so I told them that I would just take care of it, rather than waiting in the ER any longer. Our friend hooked us up with xrays and determined that she would be okay as soon as her loose teeth tightened back up.

The poor girl had a fat lip that pictures don't do justice for. The next morning she went to school like normal but I was scared that her teachers were going to think we were beating her. The bruise on the forehead and the fat lip are pretty suspicious looking. About 15 minutes after her school started, I got a phone call and was SURE that it was the school, or the police, or the social services, contacting us for questioning! Luckily it was our dentist friend, seeing how Gracey was doing.

Gracey is pretty much all healed up now. Her bruises are looking good. Her teeth are loose still and one of them is slightly darker, but we were told it would lighten up. They will probably remain slightly crooked but there isn't much we can do about that at this point and it really isn't too noticeable. We still think she is cute! :)

This deserves the happy dance.

Emily had her follow up last week at Loma Linda University Hospital. For the past month and half she has been taking an anti-siezure medicine that really seems to be doing the trick. This appointment was actually with the head of pediatric-neurology and she really knows her stuff. She was very happy to see Emily and to see her happy, unlike her personality when she stayed in the hospital. After her examination and questions she did decide to raise the dose of her medicine, but that is no big deal to us. It is a liquid and Emily has no problem taking it twice a day. Emily will be on this medicine, called Keppra, for at least 2 more years. After 2 years she will receive another EEG and then they will determine if she has outgrown her abnormality in her brain or if the medicine is just suppressing siezures. With all that said, Emily is as healthy as can be. She is happy, stubborn, sassy, and cute as ever.

Help us choose

Our friend took our pictures this weekend and now we need help deciding which ones to purchase. Also, this way I don't have to post picture of myself with my new haircut. I know, I know....I have changed my hair style what seems like a million times in the last year. We thought they turned out pretty good, considering the girls were going C-R-A-Z-Y!! They still aren't the finished product, he will touch them up and stuff when we decide which to buy (which won't be many because they pricey!!!) Go to http://www.leavittphoto.com/
then click on VIP Client and are top secret password is "whipple"!

Big news that is long overdue

The week that Emily spent in the hospital was quite stressful to say the least, and not just because of obvious reasons. That was a week that Corky had received some job offers that we needed to decide on. Going from the army to civilian life is quite different already. In the army when you change jobs, the army tells you what you will be doing and where you will be going. You just deal with it. Not really any decisions on your part are required. Now that Corky has more freedom in what he will be doing, we found it to be quite stressful. We really wanted to get it right and go somewhere that we would be so excited about. We narrowed it down to 3 options: Phoenix, AZ, Fishkill, NY, or Kingman, AZ. In my head, Kingman could have been scratched completely off the list. I had only driven through Kingman a few times but it had nothing that I knew of to be desired. However, the job opportunity for Corky was really great. That is the ONLY reason it stayed on the list. It was our "backup" just in case the other places didn't work out.

I wrote this in a notebook a few weeks ago, try to follow.

"You know when something that you don't want to feel right, feels right? And the thing that you want to feel right actually doesn't feel right. So you pretend that the thing that doesn't feel right actually does feel right, in the hopes that it will eventually really feel right. That is where Corky and I are at right now. I really wanted Phoenix to work out, but I know that Kingman is where we are supposed to go right now."

We were both so ready to move to Phoenix that we went down house hunting one weekend while Corky had another interview. I looked at 11 houses that would be have been excellent and I was so excited about. As soon as I got back to my brother in law's house, I got this really stressed out feeling that I couldn't pin down. Audie and Candice probably remember me grilling them about Phoenix and that I was wearing my heart (and stress) on my sleeve. Anyway, Corky had many of those same stresses.

Then of course, the next day was when Emily had her seizure. That gave us a few more days to think more about where we should move to. After some long talks and prayer on both mine and Corky's parts, we had a very strong yet peaceful feeling about Kingman, AZ. The day after Emily was released from the hospital was the day that Corky accepted the job there. He will be a department manager for Southwire. It is a manufacturing company that produces copper and aluminum wiring for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. He is really excited about the job and there is great potential for him to grow with it.

So after accepting the job we researched homes online in the Kingman area. We went down for a day and looked at about 12 houses. After spending the entire day looking at house after house, we decided on the very first home we looked at (isn't that how it always works?) It was a foreclosed home that was in great condition. We put an offer on the home and the bank accepted. We are really excited about it, I wish I had some pictures to post. It just had its inspection this week and everything looks great. Corky now just has a "honey-do" list with little things like a leaky faucet, slow drain, etc. We will immediately be putting carpeting in throughout the house and will build a new pantry, but other than that there isn't much else to do.

Re-reading my little note I wrote to myself a few weeks ago, I have to laugh. Wouldn't life just be so much easier if we all just went with our gut more often and followed our first instinct? I know I could have saved myself from all that stress if I wouldn't have tried so hard to make what didn't feel right, feel right. I suppose though I wouldn't have learned a lesson, nor would I have such a confusing paragraph written down in my journal that I will be able to always laugh at.

Since committing to Kingman we have been talking to residents and reading a lot on the city website. It actually sounds like it will be a really great place to live. It has a lot of tourist attractions nearby, some great schools, and men, women, and co-ed sports leagues, which will be SO FUN! It only has about 40,000 people (I think?) and so it isn't tiny like it used to be but still has that small-town feel. Not to mention, it is closer to both my family and Corky's family.

Kind of funny how the very thing that I dreaded a month ago, I have completely changed my tune about.

March resolution

I am making a goal of writing a new blog entry at least twice a week.....starting tomorrow. Hopefully. (such conviction and motivation, right?)

Just like my diet, it always starts tomorrow!

This was in Phoenix about a month again when we were down visiting.

We are teaching our girls right.

Proactiv, a true and loyal friend.

Yes, its true! It always pulls through for me when I am in desperate need, such as now. I swear that the older I am getting, the worse my acne is. I have either been using prescriptions soaps and creams, or Proactiv for the past few years. Just as I begin to embrace my fair skin, all these red pimples decide to show up...leaving me with what could be porcelain skin, instead looking like a 13 year girl who is wearing her first training bra. I always go running back to my Proactiv though. Our friendship is quite the cycle. I start using it and it clears me up immediately and I stay quite clear for a month or so. Then my skin goes back to normal so I stop using it. After a few months of just using my dove soap and benzoil peroxide, or my acne-aid soap and scrubber, I come running back to Proactiv, begging for her forgiveness and her help!!

And if any of you have used it lately, how about the new snap lids instead of the stupid lids that you have to twist on and off. Genius, I tell ya! AND the new moisturizer with SPF 15. That's what I am talking about!!

FYI-Every single picture of me from Emily's hospital stay was touched up, so don't go saying "you don't have acne" or "you don't need acne medication".

Thank you photoshop, another dear and trusted friend of mine.

The Kite Runner

This was an excellent book. Very sad, but very thought provoking and moving. I had about 80 pages left and have been anxious to finish it. Not just because I loved the book, but because it was due back at the library yesterday. (oops!) I decided to hit mute on my remote control during the commercials of American Idol tonight so that I could pluck away a little at a time. About half way into the 2 hour show I found myself not caring so much about who was singing what. All I cared to do was finish the book.

I added the movie to our Netflix que. Has anyone seen it? Comments? I hope it's good. I think it was up for Golden Globe or something this past year.

While I surprisingly didn't cry while reading the book, I am sure I will bawl my way through the movie.

Literally speaking.

Tonight on our way home from a days worth of errands in Barstow, Gracey decided that as we were driving right through the middle of nowhere, she needed to go to the bathroom. We asked her if it was number 1 or number 2....of course it is number 2! We are minutes away from being home and so we asked if she can hold it. She says she can. My sister Bailey, who is visiting us for the weekend, says "Squeeze your cheeks!"

A minute later we turn around and can you guess what Gracey is doing? Yup! Squeezing her cheeks. Both hands on her face, squishing it as hard as she can.

Gracey is one funny gal! I guess for a 3 year old, all things are literal.

And now we are home

Emily was released yesterday and we are so happy. she is still coughing a lot but is so full of anti-biotics that the doctors didn't seem to worried about it anymore. She will be taking an anti-seizure medicine for at least 2 years now. It is called Kepra and we really hope that because of this medicine that we will never have to experience a seizure again. She will have to do follow up EEGs and other check ups, but right now life is looking pretty bright.

She had just gotten the IV taken out. Still not sure she likes the nurse or not.

Taking our last trip in the wagon

Loving the elevators

It sure is amazing how fast life can change. One minute I was playing with my bright-eyed little girl, the next minute she was in the emergency room and we weren't sure what in the world was going to happen. We are truly blessed to have such amazing doctors, technology, and facilities. We also feel blessed to have such amazing family and friends who were ready and willing to drop anything to help us, all we needed to do was to say the word. Corky and I are very thankful to have both of our girls home with us. Life is good.

Finally going home!

Friday and Saturday

I forgot to mention that my mom drove me and Gracey home Thursday night while Corky stayed with Emily. I really needed a good night's sleep (because I felt and looked like death) and Gracey had school the next day. We got home and I crashed. I knew that I would sleep pretty good considering that I had slept a total of 10 hours in the past 3 days, but I didn't think I would sleep for 12 solid hours. It felt excellent. I felt refreshed and relaxed, better than I had all week. I had good reason to feel better, Emily's anti-seizure medicine seemed to be working and her pneumonia was getting better. Slowly and surely but at least it was definitely getting better.

So Friday and Saturday were pretty much uneventful. We kept busy by taking long walks around the hospital....and that's about it. Not much else to do. The weather in San Bernardino was excellent. We enjoyed being outside in the courtyard and Emily's favorite thing was the elevators. They were the fastest elevators I have ever been in. Your stomach is sure to drop just going one floor at a time. Emily giggled every time we went in them.

Saturday was especially nice because while my mom took Gracey to a nearby mall, Corky and I took turns with Emily while the other one went to the Redlands Temple that was only about 10 minutes away. It was so nice and peaceful, and a great ending to the crazy week.

Here are a bunch of pictures taken during those two days.

Emily sleeping with her best buddy, Mike

Grandma Joyce and Emily

Checking out the fishies.
Being silly with her baby doll

Daddy and Emily

Milk, it does a body good.
Clutching her baby doll tight.
Gracey was so sweet to bring her some yogurt and feed it to her.
Gracey, who has magically grown before out eyes this week.
I LOVE this picture of these two. This picture also shows how pretty the L.A. area can really be.

Corky recycling wishes(we didn't have any loose change on us), and pretending to fall in the water.

Emily laughing at her daddy being a goof.

We are so happy that we can be together.

Gracey having to show off her inner, thrill-seeking, dare-devil

Emily following in her sister's footsteps

Emily practicing her pucker!

Giving some big kisses to her baby doll. I don't know why the baby doll is so special....I ask for kisses all the time and don't get them this good! (just kidding, I do...but I am still jealous!)