There and back again!

Well, we have officially made our first trip back home to Calgary. The drive there was pretty good, we drove to Kamloops on the Thursday night and went the rest of the way on Friday. The Coquihalla pass was pretty slippery on Thursday, but the mountain roads we traveled on Friday were not too bad at all. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day and the mountains were truly spectacular! I was driving for the most beautiful parts and I kept telling Brian to take pictures because it was just awe-inspiring, but he wasn't really into it and only got one decent picture. I don't think pictures do it justice anyway, it has to be seen! We got to Calgary around 6 on Friday and we stopped in at the private viewing at the funeral home (we took turns going, didn't want to go with the kids - Brian's parents were with us, too). The funeral was Saturday morning. I got up bright and early so I could go get my hair done (oh the things you miss when you move away! I was so happy I could go to my hair dresser again:)) and then we dropped the kids off at Bobbi and Jer's for the funeral. It was a really nice service. I felt like it was a very nice tribute for Brian's grandpa, who had clearly touched so many lives. I could not have been happier that we didn't have our kids along, so glad I could sit and listen the whole time!

Saturday afternoon, Lynsey and I headed up north and stopped in at my friend Katie's house for a bit and then headed over to see our house. As I was driving up the street, I see a Hummer parked in our driveway. Apparently this guy is not hurting too much financially! The house was spotless (he has a cleaning lady) and I was so relieved! Everything looked like it was in good shape, no pictures on the walls (and the walls were so clean, such a foreign sight for me haha!) and it was so nice to actually be able to talk to the renter face to face. I feel much better about the whole situation now. We went back to Stella's house (where we were staying) and just hung out with family the rest of the day. The next morning, we went to Brian's parents' hotel so the kids could go swimming. Lynsey had the most fun, Nathan was still a bit sick so he was a bit whiny. We spent the afternoon at Terry and Marilyn's which was fun. We drove the whole way home on Monday - 13 hours total trip. It wasn't as bad as I thought! The roads were a little dodgy, but the kids did so well! Another huge relief. I don't know how often we would want to do that, but it's good to know that it's a possible trip to make.

I had lots of weird feelings being back home. It felt very familiar and comfortable, although it was weird to stay with someone else and see our house with someone else's furniture in it. In a lot of ways, it felt like we had never left. I think that's because we haven't been gone long enough. It kind of felt like our life here in Seattle was a bit like a dream. It was great to be home, but I have to say that I was totally okay to leave as well. The feeling reminded me a bit of how it always was to leave La Crete in the early years after leaving home. I was so happy to be home and it all felt so comfortable and familiar, but when it was time to leave and go home, it got easier every time. Anyway, we have settled back into our routine this week and are getting ready for Christmas! Just a few online orders that are in transit and the shopping is done. Looking forward to Brian being off for a few days while his parents are here!

Nathan has been going crazy for trains lately! And he is learning games, too, such as one of his trains getting stuck and him saying, "Oh no! Gorday tuck!" and then you have to "push" his train out. He gets pretty particular, too - today, I just pushed his train out and he says, "more oh no! Gorday tuck!" He wanted me to say that before pushing his train out and once I did, he was okay for me to continue:). It's high maintenance, because he is always bringing us trains or cars or books and would be perfectly happy if all we ever did was read to him and play with him, but we aren't complaining too much obviously:). It's nice to see how much he craves interaction, I just wish he would get it from his brother and sister more! Lynsey certainly does play with him quite a bit at times, but she can also decide to shut him out on a whim which can be frustrating. Another thing we have noticed about Nathan is how much he is saying goodbye - to anything and everything! Very tearful goodbyes were said to the McDonalds play place in Abbotsford on the way to Kamloops, and Daddy always gets very sad goodbyes as well in the morning. Today he actually said goodbye to the hearts on a page in a book! Such a sentimental soul:).

We had Adam's teacher conference today. They seem to think he is making nice progress and would benefit from moving up to 5 afternoons a week. We are seriously thinking about it, but it's kind of tough to think about him being gone all day 5 days a week:(. His well-being if our first priority, so we might decide to give it a try and see how he responds. We are happy with how he is doing and if another few afternoons a week would boost his progress even more, we would not want to stand in the way of that. Something to decide in the New Year!

I gave Lynsey a trim yesterday. Well, it was supposed to be a trim but I didn't really know what I was doing so it turned into more of a "cut". It's about shoulder length which is shorter than I wanted, but it's super cute and Lynsey seems to like it, too (whew!).