iPhoneography: Saying Goodbye

Our last few weeks in Utah were spent having many dates with friends we were about to leave. I only captured about half of the outings - there were so many good people to fit in.

We had a belated New Years' Eve ice skating extravaganza, complete with Waffle Love.

We visited neighborhood friends that have celebrated birthdays and holidays and countless playdates with our boys.

These four boys were born exactly nine months apart, like some crazy, unplanned relay. My friend Steph and I took turns being pregnant; when one baby was born another one was immediately on the way. I think it's safe to say that trend is not going to continue.

Crew went over to play with Bella while the movers were loading the truck.

I died laughing when her mom sent me pictures of Crew trying to sit in her Barbie chair.

We said a tearful goodbye to the family that sat by us at church every Sunday. I could not have survived the last two years alone with four kids on the bench without this awesome family. They made my job so easy. On our first Sunday at our new church congregation, Blake said, "I don't know if I can do this without the Guevaras." I hear you, buddy. 

When I picked Blake up on his last day of school, every one of his first grade classmates gave him a high five on the way out the door. Blake held back the tears until we were safely confined in our car, and then he sobbed. It was heartbreaking.

His classmates each made him a card with well wishes.

I especially liked Kate's. 

We also had one last dinner with the bishopric Troy served with for two years, a lunch date with friends I grew up with in Michigan that now live in Utah, one last book club, a work outing with many colleagues that Troy has spent the majority of his time with over the last seven years, one last round of haircuts from my cute neighborhood friend with a salon in her home, a playdate with Blake's best friend from school, and one last typical triple date with our best friends, hopping from a Thai food joint to another restaurant for dessert.

Although it was sad to leave our home behind, it's really the people that we are going to miss most. We made wonderful friends who enriched our lives. They helped us through our worst times and our best times. We went through some tough times over the last few years, but we always looked forward to escaping with friends on weekend nights, where we would be guaranteed to laugh, no matter what.

I'll never forget swinging by the hospital last year on Valentine's Day to pick up a hobbling Troy from the ER. We were bound and determined to go out with friends that night, and not only did Troy crutch his way into a nice restaurant in sweatpants and excruciating pain, but we told our friends that baby #4 was on the way as well. Now, we can look back and see the humor in that whole crazy situation. There sure were times where we were a mess and our friends were the bright spot in our lives.

Moving carries with it the stress and fear of "starting over" in a new place. It is hard to move into an area where people have known each other for perhaps many years, and then step into it, wondering if you have anything to offer them.

It took time for us to feel settled in Utah and we know it will take time to feel like we belong in our new home as well.

If only we could skip over moving month(s) and instantly go from one life and be nicely situated in the next.

Christmas Break Wrap-Up

We're only 18 days into 2015 but it already feels so ancient to write about the end of 2014.

It was so nice to spend the week between Christmas and New Year's at the cabin. If we would have been at home, I would have found a thousand things to do. But being away forced us to relax. We bowled, we swam, we watched movies, we built new toys, we played new games on repeat and we avoided going outside in the below freezing temperatures. 

Grandma gave all the boys matching shirts for a photo op, which ended up being incredibly tricky to squeeze in. With four babies on different nap schedules, there was rarely a time where everyone was awake. I knew we'd have higher quality photos in the daylight but it just wasn't in the cards. We made do late one evening with as many indoor lights as we could find. 

We had Troy's aunt and uncle and cousins over that evening, so at least there were lots of extra helpers to encourage the little ones to cooperate. Somehow, Finn slept through all the commotion.

We stayed up late playing the game Quelf with cousins. There was one point where we had to use sign language to communicate (which none of us knew) and we were laughing so hard it brought us to tears. 

It got too cold to play in the snow so we ventured out to the hot tub instead. 

It took 7 people, 3 days and 1700 pieces to complete the Salt Lake temple replica. 

We finally got to the gingerbread house and gingerbread cookies once Christmas was over. 

It was so cold on New Year's Eve that when Troy went out to the car, he found that a bottle of sparkling cider had frozen and exploded, sending tiny pieces of glass all over the vehicle. 

We opted to take the family to an indoor aquatic center to avoid the cold. 

Blake let Crew push him into the pool over and over and over. 

Finn slept through the event as usual. 

We kicked off the New Year with takeout and watched fireworks from the hot tub when the clock struck midnight. 

On the 11th Day of Christmas: Christmas Eve Ski Lift

It was tricky to get a group our size out the door over Christmas break with so many varying nap schedules, so we considered ourselves triumphant when we made it out to one of the local ski resorts on Christmas Eve.

We all loved riding up the mountain on the ski lift.

We couldn't crack a smile out of Crew. He was too busy taking it all in.

The boys sure had fun with their cousins during the four days our getaways overlapped.

Once we made it to the top, the kids trampled through the snowy oasis.

And warmed up by the fire.

We played some corn hole.

I showed Blake how it was done.

After a successful outing, we headed back to the cabin for the little ones to nap and the older ones to decorate the gingerbread house. We feasted, put on the nativity reenactment, and then it was off to bed for the most anticipated morning of the year.

On the 10th Day of Christmas: Just Hear Those Sleigh Bells Jingling

We spent all day on Christmas Eve Eve cleaning and packing to prepare for a week away from home. We barely made it in time to a resort in the canyon to meet up with extended family for a horse-drawn sleigh ride. There wasn't much snow on the ground yet, so it ended up being a horse-drawn wagon ride. What we were lacking in snow we certainly made up for in coldness. It was freeeezing.

After we rode around, sang some carols and met the horses, we ventured into the lodge to visit Santa Claus. Crew was quite hesitant to accept his offering of a candy cane.

Finn showed the least amount of stranger anxiety towards the jolly old man. And Blake changed his mind about what to ask Santa for two days before Christmas. It's a good thing I anticipated his request and already had his new wish in my possession. I think I should get extra mom points for that!

On the 9th Day of Christmas: Christmas Downtown

The week of Christmas began with a trip downtown. We ventured to the Grand America Hotel to check out the displays.

We met up with the boys' only cousins that we haven't seen in over a year. Their Grandma gave them all matching shirts to be worn for the occasion.

These two crack me up.

Finn cheerfully tagged along as usual.

The hotel featured a holiday window stroll. Each window was hand-crafted and included intricate animated elements designed around letters of the alphabet. The boys each received a tracking card to locate all of the hidden letters (from A to Z) in the window displays. Then they took their completed cards to the giant gingerbread house for a special treat.

It looks like we have another machine lover on our hands. Crew stared at the balls going up and down the obstacles for a good ten minutes.

The boys had the best time playing "I Spy" and filling out their cards when they located each letter. It was the perfect indoor activity for their age. But they couldn't stay indoors for long; they just had to get outside and run along the ledges that lined the main driveway.

We made our way to an Italian restaurant where they seated our family of 13 around one round table. As we crammed our chairs together and attempted to distract the very hungry children with paper airplanes flying across the table, we realized just how large and chaotic this family has become.

The thing about getting that many people together in one place at one time is that everything takes longer than usual. Especially with babies and young children in the mix. The plans for the evening included a stroll around Temple Square to see the lights, but by the time we finished dinner it was way past bedtime.

Blake poured out some good tears when I informed him the night was over after dinner. He does not like to deviate from "the plan." But like any good mother, I caved in to his puppy dog eyes and endless pleading. The boys still seemed to be in high spirits even though it was so late, and since they didn't have school the next day, we decided to make a go for it.

Uncle Todd carried Nash around on his shoulders the majority of the time and Nash was enamored with the lights and the temple.

The boys surprisingly had oodles of energy and ran circles around us. Nash proclaimed himself to be "the king of Oz" (?) over and over which gave us a good laugh.

We even let Crew stay up to admire the lights. He is at the age where we get endless "oohs and ahhs" from him when we drive around looking at lights, so we knew he would absolutely love the lights on Temple Square.

The boys crashed as we neared 11pm on the way home. But I've learned that sometimes the moment is more important than the schedule, and this evening was worth the spontaneity in every way.