Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Returning home part 2
Coming Home and Saying Goodbye :(
Well the 22 Days in TX flew by way to fast. In the end we had to leave Frank behind and drive home alone. Frank had to finish out processing and we had to finish the house.
Here are some pictures from our trip home
Dallas TX Tample Grounds
love this picture of the girls
all six kids
the 3 boys
good one of Celidah
Celidah took this one
kids in awe of the 113 degree weather and the temple
sitting in the shade but still oh so hot
we found a lake to take a break at
playing on the sandy beach
even the cat enjoyed the break
quick stop for a picture most of the kids were sleeping
same stop and had to get this picture too... HOW did she sleep like this???
Here are some pictures from our trip home
Adventures from TX
Here is a sampling of pictures from our 22 day stay in TX
Corbyn
Zach
Celidah
Ellie
Jade
Be the bowling pin
Look who is starting to swim on her own!
Swimming under water
Spending time with Daddy
Spending time with daddy in the kids eyes, and in daddys eyes are not always the same things. Before we left the kids had planned out exactly what they were going to do with daddy when he came home from Afghanistan. However, what they did not take into account was funds available, what daddy wanted to do, and the time we really had with daddy before he to work related things.
They had in their minds that we were spending 21 days in TX. During those 21 days in TX 19 would be with daddy. Well there are 6 so they would each get 2 days each and daddy and I would have 2 days each and we would have 4 family days. During that time they wanted to go to Sea World, Water World, the beach, and 6 Flags. Not to mention they each had 2 places in mind.
What they did not know is that his flight would be delayed and that he would arrive 1 week after we got there, have 3 days with the family, then have to do work related stuff every other day were were there and spend evenings with us.
Not to montion huge crowds was not on the adgenda at all with either mom or dad. Nor could we travel past a certain mile distance beyond base. Besides dady wanted to spend time with the family. We swam, watched movies in the hotel room, played video games, played at parks, basiclly did things as a family.
Mom and dad did have a date night alone without kids. We attended the temple, and watched a movie and had dinner out. This was important for us to have some alone time as it was important for the kids to have time with daddy.
They had in their minds that we were spending 21 days in TX. During those 21 days in TX 19 would be with daddy. Well there are 6 so they would each get 2 days each and daddy and I would have 2 days each and we would have 4 family days. During that time they wanted to go to Sea World, Water World, the beach, and 6 Flags. Not to mention they each had 2 places in mind.
What they did not know is that his flight would be delayed and that he would arrive 1 week after we got there, have 3 days with the family, then have to do work related stuff every other day were were there and spend evenings with us.
Not to montion huge crowds was not on the adgenda at all with either mom or dad. Nor could we travel past a certain mile distance beyond base. Besides dady wanted to spend time with the family. We swam, watched movies in the hotel room, played video games, played at parks, basiclly did things as a family.
Mom and dad did have a date night alone without kids. We attended the temple, and watched a movie and had dinner out. This was important for us to have some alone time as it was important for the kids to have time with daddy.
Leaving to See Daddy and his arrival
Finally the day has ARRIVED!!! Yes this is posted AFTER Frank has returned to the states. This was requested by the commander of his company for safety reasons. Granted I could have posted this the day after he returned however the events leading up to his return kept us packed and very busy, and I did not take the time to do any updates while we were in TX with him.
The house is mostly packed, mostly painted, we are as done at this point as we can be and have not heard back if there are any in flight delays and we have a several day drive ahead of us as I am doing the driving alone with 6 kids and a cat. I have to make sure we arrive there safely so stops are planned for resting, playing, homework as I am still taking college classes, bathroom, and most important eating.
It was not until we were just a couple hours from entering Oklohoma that I got the call letting me know the soldiers were on an unexpected 72 hour layover. UGH!!! 10 hours ago would have been really nice to get this call as I could have stayed home 3 more days and finished the house!!!!
At this point we continued on and found the first hotel that was open and stayed the night. Took our time leaving. We stopped at a park that morning played for several hours as we had an additional 72 hours before daddy would even be landing in TX.
We finally arrived in TX got settled in the hotel, went swimming, checked out the base, and waited. The following days turned into a week before daddy arrived.
When we recieved the call that the arrival day was delayed again the kids were devistated. So we killed time by decorating the hotel room doors, making signs, pictures and posters and more swimming.
The arival day could not come soon enough for the kids. The waiting was almost to intense. Several times they broke down into tears because the time was finally here but not here. What was their daddy going to be like? When was the plane landing? Was that plane their daddys plane? How much longer? Were some of the questions.
Suddenly on the live cam screen a plane came into focus and the camera stayed in on the plane. The entire crowd went silent then every one screamed and cried at the same time. The kids screamed "That's daddy plane! He is almost here, he is almost here!"
We watched the plane taxi, and a short bit later the plane was greeted and soldiers started to leave the plane. In the terminal each soldier recieved a hug in front of the next camera. As each family reconiged their soldier you could hear the shouts and screams of "Mommy" or "Daddy" from the kids. Each child knew right away even with some kids not seeing his or her mother or father for 18 months or more.
We did not see the soldiers again for amost 2 hours as they all has to turn in their weapons and check in. Nextt hey loaded on the bus then traveled from the far end of base from the large air feild to the Welcome Home Center where we were all gathered and waiting. Each soldier ran in through dry ice fog into formation for a very short ceromony. At the end the crowd was told to go find their soldier.
At this point the kids looked at me and I told them find daddy. They dropped what they had in their hands and scattered in all directions. I took a quick moment to gether their things into one pile, then left to find Frank. By this point it was a mass BDU uniforms. He found me first and the kids were lost in the mass of people.
Once we were all together we simply hugged, talked, gathered our things, collected his things, then left for the room, and relaxed for the rest of the day.
The house is mostly packed, mostly painted, we are as done at this point as we can be and have not heard back if there are any in flight delays and we have a several day drive ahead of us as I am doing the driving alone with 6 kids and a cat. I have to make sure we arrive there safely so stops are planned for resting, playing, homework as I am still taking college classes, bathroom, and most important eating.
It was not until we were just a couple hours from entering Oklohoma that I got the call letting me know the soldiers were on an unexpected 72 hour layover. UGH!!! 10 hours ago would have been really nice to get this call as I could have stayed home 3 more days and finished the house!!!!
At this point we continued on and found the first hotel that was open and stayed the night. Took our time leaving. We stopped at a park that morning played for several hours as we had an additional 72 hours before daddy would even be landing in TX.
We finally arrived in TX got settled in the hotel, went swimming, checked out the base, and waited. The following days turned into a week before daddy arrived.
When we recieved the call that the arrival day was delayed again the kids were devistated. So we killed time by decorating the hotel room doors, making signs, pictures and posters and more swimming.
The arival day could not come soon enough for the kids. The waiting was almost to intense. Several times they broke down into tears because the time was finally here but not here. What was their daddy going to be like? When was the plane landing? Was that plane their daddys plane? How much longer? Were some of the questions.
Suddenly on the live cam screen a plane came into focus and the camera stayed in on the plane. The entire crowd went silent then every one screamed and cried at the same time. The kids screamed "That's daddy plane! He is almost here, he is almost here!"
We watched the plane taxi, and a short bit later the plane was greeted and soldiers started to leave the plane. In the terminal each soldier recieved a hug in front of the next camera. As each family reconiged their soldier you could hear the shouts and screams of "Mommy" or "Daddy" from the kids. Each child knew right away even with some kids not seeing his or her mother or father for 18 months or more.
We did not see the soldiers again for amost 2 hours as they all has to turn in their weapons and check in. Nextt hey loaded on the bus then traveled from the far end of base from the large air feild to the Welcome Home Center where we were all gathered and waiting. Each soldier ran in through dry ice fog into formation for a very short ceromony. At the end the crowd was told to go find their soldier.
At this point the kids looked at me and I told them find daddy. They dropped what they had in their hands and scattered in all directions. I took a quick moment to gether their things into one pile, then left to find Frank. By this point it was a mass BDU uniforms. He found me first and the kids were lost in the mass of people.
Once we were all together we simply hugged, talked, gathered our things, collected his things, then left for the room, and relaxed for the rest of the day.
Dress Rehersal and Dance Recital
The final major perfromance before leaving to see daddy was the kids dance recial dress rehersal May 31 and June 1 and the perfromance June 3 and 4. The rehersal was long and challenging as I was in charge of the costumes for all 6 kids. May 31 rehersal was not to bad as the kids were not in to many dances that night, however the June 1st rehersal was crazy as the was the busy night for the kids. Ellie had 5 dances total this year and was dancing all 5 dances the 2nd night, Zach had 4, Jairon had 3, Corbyn had 3, Jade had 9 or 10, and Celidah had 4. For next year Jade and Ellie want to keep dancing and the boys are bouncing back and fourth.
Unfortunatly I do not have many clear shots as kids took most of the pictures and I have not purchased pictures yet. I am planning to but have not gotten the information to purchase since returning from TX from the dance school and forgot to get the information to order during the dress rehersal or recital.
Dancing to Believe
Dancing to Evacuate the Dance Floor (Jade at the end)
Zach oh so HANSOME in a tux for Ballet
Corbyn and Jairon "Flying in Your Dreams" for Ballet"
Chantelle in HEAVEN with her favorite song "Angel of Music" from Angel of Mucic
Celidah loving tapping to "Time of Your Life"
Corbyn Tapping up a storm with his class
Unfortunatly I do not have many clear shots as kids took most of the pictures and I have not purchased pictures yet. I am planning to but have not gotten the information to purchase since returning from TX from the dance school and forgot to get the information to order during the dress rehersal or recital.
A Mid Summer Nights Dream
Celidah performed in a Mid Summer Night Dream and had a BLAST! This was her first drama experience. In fact the entire group had never performed before and they all did very well with the middle school performnace. The performance has made her want to gain more theater skills and be on stage more.
Band and Orchestra Concerts
Once again it is that time of the year for the end of the year band and orchestra concerts. However, we had 4 this time. Celidah did All City Orchestra, Band, Orchestra, and participated in a middle school music festival and compitition.
Aurora Hills Middle School placed very high for their performance. The All City Orchestra performances once again were amazing. We are going to miss Ms. Hobein as she has always pushed those kids to perfrom above and beyond the normal expected level. In the end by the end of 3 years those kids are able to play almost anything.
This year Celidah played her violin and percussion which allowed her the opportunity to play more songs and do so much more.
Aurora Hills Middle School placed very high for their performance. The All City Orchestra performances once again were amazing. We are going to miss Ms. Hobein as she has always pushed those kids to perfrom above and beyond the normal expected level. In the end by the end of 3 years those kids are able to play almost anything.
This year Celidah played her violin and percussion which allowed her the opportunity to play more songs and do so much more.
Packing and preparing to move
May progressed and the packing intensified as did working to finish the last minute school work. Some lessons has been postponed due to my having had major surgery days before Christmas and with a grueling 16 week recovery once allowed there was much house work to catch up on. Suddenly some lessons fell behind again so the final few weeks of school were a heavy push to hurry and finish the lessons. In addition to finishing lessons we had pre-traveling appointments, packing, band and orchestra concerts, drama performances, dance company performances, recital pictures, and two dance recital dress rehearsals and performances each. May was packed.
Yet somehow with all of this going on I still had to find time to clean, pack, paint, finish ripping the carpet out and laying the hardwood flooring, replace the baseboards, learn how floor the stairs, learn how to hang doors, and tear down a wall in our garage, all without loosing my mind.
While doing all this preparing the kids for the long awaited return of their father was also in heavy swing. We were dealing with behavior issues due to nightmares about how changed their daddy was going to be. The dreams they were having were far from pleasant, in fact downright frightening for the kids.
I learned the behavior issues I was dealing were all normal under our circumstances. All behavior issues in children with a parent who has been gone for an extened period are normal regardless if the child has had regular contact or not. If the child has not had contact with the missing parent the bahaviors can be more extreme. 5 and under kick scream cry, hit and bite a lot due to not fully understanding why their parent left them. These children do not always have the communication skills to express their thoughts, feelings, frustrations, or understand the reason for the leaving int he first place. 5-10 yrs hit, kick, bite (yes still biting (UGH)) fight, argue, talk back, refuse to help, sometimes refuse to talk much at all and scream. The same behaviors are common in the tween ages through the teen through just simple down right defiance to family rules.
Children naturally test boundries and rules, but when there is a devision in the family the testing can be more difficult to deal with. When reuniting the family many fears suddenly resurface for the children especially if the missing parent has gone off to war.
Going off the war the children worry as much as the remaining about the death of the parent in the war zone, and if they will return changed in a bad way. Our children see on the news and on TV about the effects of war on many and sad and scary state that some of these soldiers return. Some children have personal first hand experience, and those experiences increase the fears for their loved ones.
Finding a way to combat the fears is chanllenge. Helping children cope when one knows a return like that is likely would be very difficult. Thankfully we were blessed with helping them cope with their fears and turn them into excitement.
By this point May was almost over and the kids were counting down the days until we could leave to see daddy return to TX. We also had the house almost packed and the kids were starting to calm down just a bit.
Yet somehow with all of this going on I still had to find time to clean, pack, paint, finish ripping the carpet out and laying the hardwood flooring, replace the baseboards, learn how floor the stairs, learn how to hang doors, and tear down a wall in our garage, all without loosing my mind.
While doing all this preparing the kids for the long awaited return of their father was also in heavy swing. We were dealing with behavior issues due to nightmares about how changed their daddy was going to be. The dreams they were having were far from pleasant, in fact downright frightening for the kids.
I learned the behavior issues I was dealing were all normal under our circumstances. All behavior issues in children with a parent who has been gone for an extened period are normal regardless if the child has had regular contact or not. If the child has not had contact with the missing parent the bahaviors can be more extreme. 5 and under kick scream cry, hit and bite a lot due to not fully understanding why their parent left them. These children do not always have the communication skills to express their thoughts, feelings, frustrations, or understand the reason for the leaving int he first place. 5-10 yrs hit, kick, bite (yes still biting (UGH)) fight, argue, talk back, refuse to help, sometimes refuse to talk much at all and scream. The same behaviors are common in the tween ages through the teen through just simple down right defiance to family rules.
Children naturally test boundries and rules, but when there is a devision in the family the testing can be more difficult to deal with. When reuniting the family many fears suddenly resurface for the children especially if the missing parent has gone off to war.
Going off the war the children worry as much as the remaining about the death of the parent in the war zone, and if they will return changed in a bad way. Our children see on the news and on TV about the effects of war on many and sad and scary state that some of these soldiers return. Some children have personal first hand experience, and those experiences increase the fears for their loved ones.
Finding a way to combat the fears is chanllenge. Helping children cope when one knows a return like that is likely would be very difficult. Thankfully we were blessed with helping them cope with their fears and turn them into excitement.
By this point May was almost over and the kids were counting down the days until we could leave to see daddy return to TX. We also had the house almost packed and the kids were starting to calm down just a bit.
Boyscout Pinewood Derby
Corbyn and Jairon had a BLAST making their cars for the Pinewood Derby this year. Corbyn with the help of a sister in our ward and her wood shop in her garage made holes all over his car, painted it yellow and green and called it the stinky cheese. Jairon made a colorful clown shoe. Neither car placed this year but they both had a blast, made the cars themselves, did all the painting, and were so proud to show off their creations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)