October

We took the opportunity to do a California vacation with my parents and sister.  It was nice to see them again.  I know it's only been 3 months, but it was so nice.  They immediately started taking our kids off of our hands, they love helping with the kids because they love our kids as much as we do.
So I will try to describe the trip as I post pictures.
Here we are on the plane going there.  I decided I don't like flying with four kids.  Three was still pretty manageable, hard, but definitely manageable.  Four is much more chaotic with much more luggage.  We used to be able to just all bring carry-ons for everyone.  Not anymore.  The fact that the last two are a year apart didn't make it much easier either because we're still carrying babies.  That and Jake with his meltdowns.  He usually has one gigantic eardrum breaking meltdown a day, and since we were on a plane all day, he had it during the first flight.  I had to take him to the bathroom to help him calm down where he wasn't embarrassing me and disturbing the peace.  The kid is loud.  He started the 'Terrible Two's' two months early apparently.  He looks happy in the picture though.

The older ones did great as usual.  Seth was happy the whole time.

 

 When we got there, my parent's flight had landed around the same time, so we all checked into the hotel together, and then we ate an early dinner at BubbaGump Shrimp.  We eat there almost every time we go out there.

This year I ordered the Shrimp 'Po boy sandwich which was delicious.

Sam just chilled in the car seat as usual. 

Crystal and Seth shared a hotel room with my parents.  They had an extra bed in there and wanted to spend as much time with their grandchildren as possible.  My parents also bought Seth a Super Mario costume for Halloween, which is what he wanted to be. Here they are chilling on their bed in their room, Seth is of course trying on his costume.

My dad brought a scary mask just for Jacob to play with.  Jacob loves all things intense and scary and rough.  So he was delighted and loved putting it on and growling at everyone.  My dad and Jacob have a strong relationship.  They understand each other.

Even though it was only our first night in Cali, my parents were more than happy to watch over all four children while Scott and I went on a date.  The best date ever.  This is where I could actually enjoy the month of Halloween.  At Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights.

We arrived!!!  Thank you GPS

Warning upon entering.  Also why I absolutely love this event.  There's still a small  remnant of the adrenaline junkie that existed long before marriage and she was very happy for this.

Front of the line pass.  It's not worth going unless you buy this. 

Pamphlet/guide cover

Map of where all the mazes and shows are

I love that Krustyland is right in the middle of the park, it's like being in the Simpson's movie for a little bit, and reliving my adolescence.  The 3D ride is also a lot of fun. 

There is a Kwik-E-Mart in Krustyland just like in the Simpsons TV show.  This is where you can buy a lot of the things and props you see in the actual show.

This is the 'Homer Simpson Doughnut" purchased at the Kwik-E-Mart.  Scott and I split it, since it's basically the size of a cake.  I'm not a huge doughnut person, but even I think this thing is delicious.

Just chillin at our table

Scott took this stupid picture of me, BUT funny story, one of my highlights that night was the fact that right after this picture, a big boned girl went running full speed past me screaming "THEY HAVE A CINNABON!!!"  toward the cinnabon you see behind me.  It was so random and she looked so hilarious running so fast using that tone that I laughed about it for a good three minutes.  Even Scott kept giggling.  Not sure whether she was trying to be funny on purpose or not, but that girl helped make my day.

Nachos, Tacos and energy drinks before entering the maze.  The park stays open until 2am so we decided to eat first.

The Escalator in the park

This is the view of the city from the escalator.  Gorgeous.  Also a chance to try out the features on the camera since it was a new one.  We borrowed it to see if it was worth purchasing.  I'm thinking it will be my Christmas present this year.

As you walk through the park, workers dressed in full makeup and costume sneak up on you and scare you the whole time.  This guy followed me for a while.  I saw him scare a whole group of girls as well.  All night long you hear people screaming, it's awesome.

Entrance to the "Mummy" ride.  It's an extremely short ride, probably no longer than a minute, but very intense and my favorite ride in the park.  I enjoy it every single time. 

Entrance to the Transformers ride.  The best 3-D ride I've ever tried. 

YES!!!!  Here we goooo!

This is the outside of the 'Walking Dead' maze.  It depicts the prison that is in the TV show.  The maze also includes actual props, and zombie dummies that were used in it.  They did a really great job with the detail on this one depicting different scenes from the series.  Any true fan would recognize the scenes...from "The governors fish tanks" to trying to find your way through the prison hallways, this place had it all and was way fun.  It was Scott's favorite.

Just random props in the park when you walk by

They had a Bill and Ted's Halloween show there.  Basically two Bill and Ted impersonators in a small comedic play.  It was absolutely hilarious, but not for people who are easily offended because some of the humor can be considered crass.  I hadn't  had this much fun watching a live show since "Spamalot" on Broadway. 

The next day was our first day at Disneyland as a family.  Here are pictures of that day, including some pics of us at the hotel room before leaving.

Jacob poked his eye and was really sad about it.  I love his big fat crocodile tears in this picture.  It makes me want to hug him every time I look at it.

Crystal and Seth cheered him up and made him forget his troubles.

Wearing my dad's mask while in the stroller

We stopped at Denny's to eat breakfast before spending the whole day in the park. 

Pancake on his face

At the park

Pictures of the Finding Nemo ride.  For those who've never been to Disneyland, you get in little submarines that go under the water and watch through the windows as Marlin looks for Nemo again.  It's really clever and cute, and Jacob was enthralled.

Walking through the park

Sammy in the stroller

Afternoon break at Tony Romas across the street. 

Ready to go back to the park

Jake waiting to watch fireworks while on Daddy's back

Sleeping Beauty's castle all lit up

The kids had cotton candy for the first time that night

Part of the "Fantasmic" show there.  This is my favorite show in the park.  I like it more than the fireworks and world of color. 

Captain Hook's pirate ship during the Fantasmic show

Evil queen just turned into a giant dragon

Finale song.  All the Disney characters float by on this boat.

In front of "It's a Small World" we were actually the last ones to ride it before they shut it down to decorate it for the Holidays

Inside it's a small world.  Lots of singing puppets.  A little long for the grownups but kids absolutely love this ride.

It was a Sunday night, so the park was open until midnight.  Sunday night is our favorite time to be at Disneyland because the locals have school and work the next day, and a lot of people head home early.  We were able to ride almost all the rides in Fantasyland over and over again without having to wait in line.

The next day, we headed out to Sea World.  We'd never taken the kids to Sea World before, so we didn't know what to expect.

Ready to go!!!

In the stadium for the Sea Lion show

In the aquarium.  This is a shrimp.  Mostly I'm just experimenting with the camera.

Piranha

Inside the shark tank

Sharks are still scary.  The tank goes over your head and around you as you go through a conveyor belt that's also a tunnel, so the sharks are literally everywhere.

Outside the shark exhibit

 

Random flamingos in the park just chillin

This was mine and the kids favorite thing in the park.  Petting the manta rays.  I was surprised at how friendly and intelligent they were.  They literally swim right up to you and let you pet their heads like puppy dogs. 

Seth was in heaven.  He exclaimed "This is the best day ever!"  "I must be dreaming!  Pinch me!"  It was so cute.

There was also sort of a dolphin meet and greet thing.  I've only got this picture since I took video of the rest, but the kids got to feed jello to this dolphin.  Here he is jumping up out of the pool to say hello to the people next to me.  The trainer also taught Crystal and Seth how to signal the dolphin to splash.  They got in a splash fight with each other.  The dolphin won of course.

Food stop

In the stadium waiting for the killer whale show

Shamu!!! 

Jakey preferred to lay down on the floor instead of watch the boring whales do tricks.

In front of the starfish exhibit

The kids got to pick up the starfish and look at them

There's also a little sesame street playground in the park.  Here's Jake making a mess in the sandbox area

Crawling through the jungle gym and nets

Taking a picture with Elmo and Zoe.  Jakey was having a melt down at the time so he's not pictured.

On one of the kiddie rides in the Sesame street area

Brownie funnell cake.  Yup.

Ice cream!

My sister Denise flew in that night, so after my parents picked her up at the airport, we went to cheesecake factory where I ate these incredible Nachos.  

The next day back at Disneyland:

In line for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, my dad's favorite

Seth being his usual smiley happy self

He has the best dimples

In car's land.  Jakes dream come true.  He's in love with the movie Cars.

Jake and Scott walking through Cars land

I daresay this was the happiest moment in my nearly two year olds life.  He is obsessed with lightning McQueen.  I got most of this on video. This was basically comparable to me meeting Christian Bale when I was only 13 in how dramatic it was for him.  Unfortunately he was so busy looking at his idol that there was no way I could get him to look up for a picture.  He hugged him, giggled, and stuck his arm in his mouth. 

Waiting in line for the Toy Story ride

My dad helping Jacob with his 3D glasses for the Toy Story ride

Sitting on the curb waiting for the Pixar Parade

Seth was in a great laughing mood as always. 

Daddy played with Sam.  Sam did a great job being good for the whole trip.

Jake is waving at Buzz Lightyear during the parade.  I usually take pictures of the kids faces instead of the parade, because watching the kids experience it, is what makes the whole thing so worthwhile.

It was a long day for my little angry bird.

Denise shared a hotel room with us.  Here she is chilling with Sammy.

The next day was back at Universal Studios but for the daytime activities at the park which are different than the Halloween event, and much more family friendly.

Aunt Denise.  Or as Seth calls her, "Denisie poo."

My cute mom

Sporting their front of the line passes that we upgraded to upon arrival. 

Crystal with Woody Woodpecker, and, uh...Mrs. Woodpecker?

Seth meets Frankenstein

Again, Jake is too busy looking at Frankenstein to look at the camera

Crystal meets a minion

Jake not looking at the camera again.

I had to take a picture of this hamburger because it was the best hamburger during the entire trip.  It doesn't look like much but it was absolutely delicious.  My dad was in love with it. 

Sammy and Scott

Me and my baby

Spongebob!!!!  Another one of Jakes favorite.  He's trying to get him to hold still for the picture. 

Group shot.  Jake kept hugging him and putting his head on him.

Shrek!

That night at the hotel.  Jake is watching TV next to his dad.  He was swinging his feet, I thought it was cute.

Fake smile for the camera.  He's saying "Cheese."

The Next day it was our final day back at Disney.

Scott took this of me and my sister exiting the bathroom at Disneyland the next morning.  My sister is in the pink behind me. I usually wore Sam in a carrier during the trip.

This was marked as the first day ever that Crystal and Seth actually enjoyed a roller coaster.  It was a kiddie coaster, but nonetheless it was the first fast ride that they stopped being afraid of.  This is the "Go coaster" in Toontown.  They went on it at least 8 times.

Great shot of Scott's arms up in the air

There they are again

Jake got impatient while they were going on the ride 50 times.  This is his complaining fake crying face.  By now he had been an experienced Disneyland goer and could yell "Ride ride ride!!" When he wanted to go on a ride.  He loved all the ones he was big enough to go on.  He was never afraid for a second.  Too bad he was too small for the go coaster, because he would have loved it.

Walking through Toontown

My parents and sister spoiling my children by buying them things in the gift shops

Denise and Seth.  These two are best friends.

Funny Story:

Crystal and Seth can see splash mountain from the outside every year, including the people screaming as they go down the big dip over the waterfall in the log.   The visual terrifies them.  This year everybody tricked Seth into going on the ride by lying to him and saying we were going on "Regular Mountain" instead of "Splash mountain."  Crystal was too smart for it and refused to even give "regular mountain" a try, but Seth trusted us.  Sort of.  He still had his doubts.  Every few minutes or so in line he'd ask..."Is this splash mountain?" and one of us would change the subject.  Once he got in the log to ride, we were already in there and going and he asked again, "Is this splash mountain?"  And we would again change the subject, pointing out the anamatronics and cool visuals.  There are three dips in the ride total.  We warned him before every dip and he did fine.  After the huge dip and the big splash he asked again, "Was that splash mountain?"  We finally said yes and he laughed and laughed.  He thought it was the best joke ever and it tuned out he loved the ride.

He is so proud of himself for riding on Splash Mountain

Sometimes we would push the three older kids in the stroller at the same time when they got tired.

Scott sneaking a picture of me while I put a jacket on Seth back at the hotel room.  I tried to avoid being in pictures as much as possible, but this one's okay.

Back at the Cheescake factory.  Crystal is admiring the Cheesecakes on display.

Back at Disneyland during the night.  It got a little cool so Sam is bundled up

Scott, my mom, and the three older kids on the ladybug ride in California Adventures.  Jake is too short to see but he was there too.

Long day for my two babies

So that was our Disneyland trip.  It was so great to see my parents and sister and to spend time with them.  I love how they are always so willing to help out with our kids and they always voulunteer themselves to watch over them without us even having to ask most of the time.
 Having to say goodbye to them and get back on the plane to go back east was bittersweet.
The hardest part was how hard my kids took it, which I wasn't prepared for.  Seth, my happiest child, sobbed along with Crystal the whole way back to the airport.  Not the usual crying kid sobs, but silent, broken hearted sobs.  It tore my heart in two.  Even on the plane flying back, about a half an hour before we landed in Philadelphia, Seth broke into sobs again because he hated saying goodbye to my parents and Aunt Denise. Seth loves my sister.  Whenever she's in the room, he gravitates to her, grabs her hand, and refuses to leave her side.  Anyway, it was a sad ride back home for them, but they were both back to their happy selves all over again once they got to see their cousins the next day.

HALLOWEEN

A few days later it was already Halloween back home and the kids got to dress up and be in their school parade.  Here is Seth going through the parade.  His makeup is already messed up because he had a runny nose and kept wiping his face with his sleeve.

My little Mario

Here is Crystal, A.K.A. Glinda the good witch of the North, from the movie "Oz the great and Powerful"

Seth at his Halloween class party.  Parents were invited

Crystal at her Halloween class party

I tried to get them together on the couch before we went trick or treating.  This was about as still as they managed to hold.

My little Buzz Lightyear, complete with pacifier and cocked eyebrow.

Sammy was Winnie the Pooh

Seth loved his costume

Crystal wanted flowers painted on her face

The day after, there was a small Halloween get together at Dan and Kelsey's house.  Even though it was a day after Halloween, we were told that wearing Costumes would be greatly appreciated.  I didn't buy a costume that year, but I had a lot of face paint and random clothes and did this:

I found scary clown pictures on the internet and tried to copy one I liked onto my face.  I don't think my Mother in Law liked it very much.

The best part was that the LDS missionaries knocked on my door and I answered it like this.  I also opened the door really quickly to try and be scary, thinking it was Scott.  Nope.  So they were newly transferred into our area and stopped by to introduce themselves and this is what they got. 

I missed my family a lot that night because they love Halloween and dressing up as much as I do.  They go all out. I usually don't hold a candle to what they throw together.   My brother texted me this picture of his costume, which was amazing.  I wish we could have taken a picture together

My brother Mike as Beetlegeuse.  I also got a text of my sister who was also Mario just like Seth, and some great costumes on my cousins too. 

Every couple brought one sweet and one savory food item for everyone to share potluck

Crystal got sick of her dress and took it off.  Dan took this picture with my camera.

Playing with Reagan

Dan snapped this picture of them all together, of course nobody is holding still or looking at the camera.

So that was Halloween.  Good stuff.  Not as crazy as Halloween's past, but I consider my trip to the Horror Nights event in Hollywood as my own Halloween, so I got my fill of the fun horror stuff.  Overall it was a very fun month.  It might be the last time we go to Disneyland for a few years, so it was fantastic that we could spend it with my parents and sister together.  I love Disney because of how magical it is for the kids.  For them, it's like their dreams and fantasies really are coming to life, and seeing their smiling faces has made it worth the money so many times.  It's time to try new stuff together though, so we will see what next year brings. 

"So how do you like living in Philadelphia?"

I'm getting this question often.  Almost every single time I'm around a group of people.  Gatherings, church, anywhere where there are people who know I just moved here, it's "How do  you like living in Philadelphia?" Or, "Do you like it here.?"
I always give the same answer.  "So far so good."
Because honestly?  I don't know.  I haven't had enough time to feel normal yet.
I had a baby, packed my house, spent a week in a beach house, started to unpack in my new house, lost a family member, and started school with the kids all within a few short weeks. I've had about 6 weeks actually living in my new home now, and through the chaos, I'm just now starting an everyday routine.  That being said, I'm still alive, still breathing, I still love my kids and still have reasons to smile, so I keep saying, "So far, so good."
There are, some interesting differences here compared to Utah though.  I like a lot of them. Others will take some getting used to. Here are a few:

Humidity.
Okay so I don't like this one so much. It has absolutely made my hair a joke.  Also the car is always stuffy, and my sunglasses get foggy. When I don't close the cereal box it gets a soggy. Same with chips.  More about food later.

AND NOW FOR AN ILLUSTRATION OF MY HAIR PROBLEMS:

Amazing food.

I heard once that Pennsylvania is the third fattest state in the nation.  I now understand why.  Cheesesteaks, giant pizza stuffed pretzels, hoagies, bagels, authentic Italian food, better tasting bread, roast beef sandwiches, ma and pa diners, authentic Asian food, water ice and incredible bakeries.  Everything doesn't only taste better, but there's a huge variety of it. It is incredible, it is delicious, and my taste buds feel like they're in heaven.  My only complaint?  Almost no Mexican food.  This is tragic, since I'm, you know, a Mexican; but at least I can cook it when I really need to.  I also don't get the love for Dunkin Doughnuts around here...Krispy Creme is better. Other than that, I'm on board with PA food.



Driving:

The drives are green, beautiful, and lots of fun winding roads.  One thing that' I've had to start getting used to is that the local neighborhood roads are really narrow. They are like west cost roads suffering anorexia.   This doesn't stop people from parking their cars on the road at all.   I use all the local  backroads to drive the kids to school, and when there's another car headed my way from the opposite end, one of us has to pull over to let the other one by because it's the only way to drive through because of the cars parked on the side of the road.  The good news is that this is not a foreign concept to me because living in England, the roads were exactly the same, and many roads were even smaller. Back then my parents did all the driving though, so now it's my turn. 

The greenery:
I love the trees here.  Everywhere you go, you can easily see the woods.  It's absolutely beautiful.  Everything here is green green green, not dry and  brown and dead like deserty Utah. I love the forest glades.  I also enjoy the wild life.  Every day we see some cute little critter hanging out in our yard.  We get deer, foxes, raccoon, bunnies, squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, and possums.  I love it.  Only problem is the bugs.  Lots and lots of bugs.  Combined with my little cottage- style 100 year old home, it's like being a mountain man in the 1950's.  Except of course I'm not in the mountains, I'm in the woods, and I don't get to wear one of those awesome fur pelts on my head.  My first two weeks here I was eaten alive by swarms of evil monstrous vampire mosquitoes that took so much of my blood that I'm probably anemic now. That was my biggest of the bug complaints.  There are also tons of crickets out here, but I like crickets.  It sounds cool outside here at night because you can hear the crickets and all the other animals chattering.  Kind of like camping, but with showers and soap and flat screen T.V.s.

Funny story though, (speaking of more bugs here)  Kelsey, Stephanie and I went to Kelseys house at night to watch the Relief Society General Broadcast.  Kelsey also lives in the woods, which in this case was unfortunate because we had THIS guarding the freaking doorway:

After considering driving away, or maybe calling an exorcist, we stared at it debating on what to do for the first half of the women's conference, also something crawled on Stephanies foot and we ran and hid in the car for another ten minutes...THEN we decided to be brave and swipe it away after dousing it with hairspray that we found in the car to disorient it.  I took some video.  It's just too funny not to post.  To the girls who are in this with me, no worries this is clip is unlisted so random youtubers probably won't find it, but it makes me smile.



Home:
I mentioned that we live in a cottege style home.  Since we came out here in a hurry we had to downgrade substantially in the size of our living space.  We live in the top two floors of the home, and Scott's office is in the basement, so he has clients come visit him there through a separate entrance.  The good thing is that he comes upstairs and eats lunch  with me in the afternoon, and also sits with the two babies while I take Crystal and Seth to School. It's nice having him close by all day.  The home itself is really cute.  It's over 100 years old, so everybody keeps telling me that it will be haunted, and spooky, but I don't get that feeling at all in this home.  If anything, there's sort of a happy, cheerful spirit here, if you believe in that stuff.    It's comfy.  The kids have the entire attic to themselves up there, it seems like it was made for kids with a bright blue carpet and little nooks to hide in with decent room to play.  They have their own TV up there and it's fairly child proof, so they hang out up there a lot and it gives me some separation on the main floor. My kitchen is small, which made me a little sad because kitchens are a big deal for me, but as a missionary my "kitchen" was just a sink in the hallway, so I've definitely had smaller.  I guess a giant kitchen in a hundred year old house would be expecting a lot.  As far as downgrades go, it's pleasant, and cute and decent, and the rent is super cheap for the East Coast.  Cost of living here is obviously much higher, but with cheap rent it makes up the difference.

Front view of the house

House and driveway

Little deck at the front door

Cute little well in the front yard area

Cute gazebo in the back yard

Family:
One of the great advantages of moving out of my home state that I have over many other people, is that there are already people I know here.  We've already spent many Sunday dinners, hang outs, and get togethers with the Itri clan.  It's great that we have people to spend time with, who we know and who we love already waiting for us out here.
A few weeks back I went with my two sister in law's, Stephanie and Kelsey to see my favorite band, Muse.  They were so great for going with me and keeping me company even though they didn't know the band the way I did.  We went out to eat at a fancy girly food restaurant, and then off to the concert, and when it was over we  topped it off with going out to get a giant cookie for dessert after the concert in the city. My cookie was amazing. I'm going to have to go back there next time I'm in the city.  I'm so glad I have some girls to do girl stuff with out here.

Right before going into the arena. 

I love this band

Matthew Bellamy.  Lead singer and freaking talented singer, guitarist, pianist, composer, and poet.  I almost named my son Jacob after him.  True story.

COOKIES!!!!  This place was called 'Insomnia Cookies,' because they're open until 3am.  Perfect for that midnight craving.  You could get giant ones with a scoop of ice cream in the middle as well.  I ordered the double chocolate smores cookie. 

It was a fun night out and a great break after all of the serious and sad things that had been happening.  We all really needed it I think.  I did my best not to look like a freak while I sang along and kept my head banging small and minimum so as not to scare my sister in laws. (If they saw me during my younger, crowd surfing single days, they would probably be mortified)  I'm so glad they went with me even though they weren't as familiar with the band as I am.  It's nice to still be able to get out and do girls night stuff with someone.
The other great thing about family out here is that my kids have lots of cousins here.  Crystal and Seth have been obsessed with Regan, Stephanie's son, who is six months apart from Seth.  Every day Crystal and Seth ask if they are going to see Regan.  Also Jacob has Jenson, who is 7 months older than him, and Sammy has Tanner, who is also 7 months older than him.  It's fantastic that they will all have cousins their age to play with.

Playing the Wii during the week we were at the beach in the Outer banks when we first flew in.  This week is kind of a blur for me because I was still dealing with post partum madness.

Joking and laughing during the luncheon after Nick's funeral.  These bright, happy kids have been a ray of sunshine through all the harder things that happened.

Seth was making jokes that made no sense to me, but they thought it was pretty hilarious.

Also of course, Scott gets to hang out with his family in the town he grew up in.  I know he likes it, in spite of how much he likes Utah he was excited to come out here to his first home, and where people understand his love for the Eagles and football.  They already went to a game out here. ( I snagged these from Stephanies blog. I was home watching The Great Gatsby with Kelsey.  Football Shmootball)

It's so great to have family out here.  I do miss my family and friends at home already though.  My only sister is back in Utah and we used to get together at least once a week to shop, go to movies, or just sit on the couch and watch T.V.    My mom, who has a sixth sense for when I need her would always pop over and help me with dishes and my worst enemy, the laundry, when I needed it most.  Also my friends.  I have friends in Utah that I've been spending time with for 17-19 years now.  No more afternoon lunches at local restaurants and then to the play ground or someones back yard with the kids every week during tax season. I guess the reason why it's hard to be separated from them is because they and my sister understand me.  They get me.  They know me extremely well and we understand each other no matter what.  I don't have to explain myself to them or worry about hurting their feelings or irritating them, or them thinking that I'm too hyper or silly or insensitive, because they get it, we've been close for years.  In a way, my long time friends are also like family.  When we lived in Utah Scott had brothers or some kind of family near by most of the time that understood him in a way that I couldn't because they grew up together.  It's going to be hard for me not to have the same access to people who understand me out here.  Halloween is actually going to be hard, this time of year was one of the most fun times for me to spend with family and friends, they always got into the spirit of things with parties and gatherings of all kinds and it's just not going to be the same.  Even though I never got homesick as a missionary I found myself homesick last Sunday thinking about it; it bothered me because it's only been a couple of months. It's just that this move happened so extremely fast, and I didn't get to say goodbye to a lot of people when I found out I was leaving because I just had a baby, I was basically pulled out of everything I knew and loved without much notice or the means to even properly see my friends for the last time, and that makes me sad. 

I will miss this:

 I am looking forward to more time with my sisters and mother in law, and making new memories though.  So the whole thing has been extremely bittersweet.  That being said, I'm an adapter, I'll be fine, and I am so so so lucky to have people I already know out here and I have a great opportunity to spend more time with them and create new bonding moments. I'm hoping I will have the same attachment to people and things out here at some point.





Other things:

I love that I can go to a Costco during the weekend and it's not so crowded that I want to blow my brains out.  I love Costco.  I love the deals and the bulk items, I love looking at the kitchenware, furniture, electronics, organic produce and other new stuff they have around from time to time, and also saving money on food and diapers.  The problem is that in Utah, Costco is so crowded that it makes me want to bludgeon people with my shoe.  That problem is non existent out here.
One thing that's not my favorite is that evening traffic seems to start at four here instead of five.  I have no idea why.  Also, every time the Eagle's are playing a home game there is more traffic, but BYU game traffic was for some reason, much much more annoying to me, so I'll let that one go.
A pro, AND a con is that people seem to be more blunt and opinionated here.  In a way, it's great because when I have a frustrated moment, people don't get scared or offended.  I got frustrated regestering my kids for school because they told me where to go and it turned out to be the wrong building, so I was not very calm at the front desk when they told me I was at the wrong place, and instead of acting nervous or offended, the lady at the front desk seemed to understand that I was mad at the situation, not her, and quickly helped me figure things out and calmed me down without thinking that I was a psycho.  If I did that in Utah I would have frightened someone.  I'm glad that people here are used to strong, vocal personalities.  However it's also not the best when it comes to the zoo of parents dropping kids off at the elementary schools in the morning.  Nobody seems to obey any traffic and parking laws when it comes to dropping your kids off.  It's frustrating and annoying and causes me anxiety because I feel like I have to fight other cars to be able to drop my daughter off safely to school in the morning.  Every other day I see parents yelling at each other in the parking lot either because of inconsiderate parking or selfish driving.  I had an old man lecture me on how I needed to do a better parking job because my car was so huge, he couldn't squeeze past it, (the drop off lane has cars parked on both sides of it so it's a gauntlet to get through)  my car was just one of many cars parked in the same spot so I just rolled my eyes and said "yup", and went about my business, but dropping Crystal off in the morning is not my favorite. 

School:
The kids started School here.  Both were extremely excited and nervous.  Seth went into kindergarten, which of course made me a little sad because I still see him as my little baby.  Crystal has always been an old soul trapped in a child's body.  Even when she was five, her vocabulary and demeanor was always that of a tiny adult. So when she went to school, it seemed...fitting.  Seth is much more how I was as a child.  Always pretending, always in his own world, never able to hold still and enjoys life because there is always someone to help and take care of him as he grows.  He doesn't worry or stress about much and he just goes with the flow.  His demeanor is much more childish than Crystals was at that age.  She has always been very mature, and Seth, is very much a little boy in every way possible.  So his first day of school ever, felt way too soon already.  He did great though.  Every day he comes home with a "green ticket" which means he behaved well.  Crystal comes home and immediately gets started on her homework.  She loves doing her homework and can't handle getting through the day if she hasn't finished it yet.  I love how responsible she is.  She is such a blessing in my house.

Everyday life:
Scott is busy managing both his Utah and his Philadelphia business now.  It's been hard for him to adapt to his fathers way of handeling things and piecing together what he was doing before he stopped coming in to work.  He works until late at night getting things done and getting the hang of it.  The good thing is that his office is just downstairs, so I still see him throughout the day.  He takes breaks to eat and help out with the kids during the day, which is awesome.
My days are fairly busy as well. I make school lunches, drop off and pick up kids a lot because they go at different times, help the kids with homework, make meals, change diapers, breastfeed, dishes, laundry and tidying up around the house.  Several boxes haven't even been unpacked yet.  I also started some online preschool activities for Jacob to start doing to give him a head start on things.  Physically  I never really got much of a break when I gave birth because we moved right away and it's literally been one thing to deal with after another. Even when we got here we hit the ground running.  Sam is now  3 months old.  Looking back on those first five weeks of his life and moving here it's already just a blur.  I don't know how I did it, I don't know how it happened, all I know is I got through it.  My energy is starting to come back so that's a big help.

We also bought a minivan.  I was never a fan of minivans growing up, and Scott had been trying to convince me to let him get me one for the past five years because he insisted it would make my life easier.  I finally caved and he went and got one and you know what?  It's amazing.  I love it.  Yes, I look like a soccer mom when I drive it, but who the crap cares when I can push a button and the doors slide open for my kids to easily pile in the car without climbing over things, and I can adjust the temperature by individual seat so I don't have to hear any whining about being too hot or cold back there.  Built in DVD player, push button start, built in navigation, and a crap load of leg room and space.  My life is so so so much easier.  I love it and I take back everything I ever said about minivans.  I will gladly look like a Mormon soccer mom if it means that it doesn't take me five years to make sure my kids are all in the car and buckled in.

My new mini van that converted me into a believer in minivans

So that's how things have been so far.  I haven't been here too long, so not a whole lot to report that I haven't already, and I'm sure I'm missing a ton of details.  I like it here.  I like the culture, I like the history and character of being out here.
In the meantime I am slowly trying to get back into shape, (TRY to exercise and eat right) adapt to being a new mom of four in a new house and new life, figuring out where I am when I'm driving without getting lost, and trying not to back into peoples cars on my long curvy driveway (I don't want to talk about that one).  I really haven't figured out my life yet, but the little things I do figure out make me want to do a victory dance.  I am adapting.  Not as fast as I'd like, but I've never been very patient with myself.  I just need to give it time.  Once I stop breastfeeding and my hormones level out a little things will start to get easier. Of course by then it will be a whole other set of issues, because that's just how life works.  It's all about progression.  So, like I keep saying, so far so good.
It's beautiful here.  I love the smells, I love the trees, I love the food and I love that I have family here, I also love that it won't snow here as much as it does in Utah.  So like I keep saying, so far so good.  

Family is everything.

In a way, I've been dreading writing in my blog lately.  At first it was because my previous post may have come across as negative, but really that was me basically giving myself a pep talk.  Weird but true. So that was the first reason,  but then so much had  happened since then, that I didn't even know how to start blogging again.  Mostly because I've been worried about things I am going to write in this post.  Of course I could always avoid it until later, and only talk about what it was like to travel with my children across the country, through the airport, our trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, the home we now live in, and all the new things about being here in Pennsylvania.  I could write about all of that, and I will, but not right now.  Right now I have to try to write into words, some deep feelings I'm not even sure I know how to express.  Feelings I know are necessary to express, but are hard to explain, or describe. Feelings of joy, sadness, inspiration, grief and faith.  Feelings of love. Specifically love for my family.
Also feelings of hate.  Hate for the disease called cancer.  I hate this disease with all my soul.
I watched my schoolmate in 5th grade suffer from it at just 10 years old.  I heard her mother and father explain that they didn't know what would happen to her and saw them both start to cry.  I saw her loose her hair and wear bandanna's to school.  It was the first time I had seen what cancer does to people on a personal level.  I remember how she didn't make it through the school year, and that they planted a tree in her name on the school grounds.  She was just a little girl.  I can't think of anything more unfair.
I watched my uncle suffer from it in Bolivia.  My mother and I flew out there for two months, to help him and his family as much as possible.  I saw him suffer, and he suffered without all the proper medication and medical care he needed, because he was in a third world country. We did everything we could to find medicine to ease the pain, but I sat in the room with him while he writhed and called out in agony, I watched my mother be brave to his face, and then when we would leave the room she would break down in tears over what we saw. I hugged her while she cried. It's still a hard memory for me. He passed away a few weeks after we came back to the states.
I've seen it affect friends, coworkers, bishops teachers and neighbors. People I care about, people I've worked with, served with, and laughed with.   I've seen three, three of my close friends from high school loose their mothers from it.
Two weeks ago, I saw my father in law pass away from it.  I hate. Hate cancer.
The thing is, this post isn't going to dwell on those feelings.  I don't want to be negative, and I don't want to be depressing, or sad, and I don't want my heart to be poisoned by those feelings.  I want to talk about what matters the most, the feelings of love, joy, hope, faith, and happiness.  All those feelings come from family.  Family is everything.  I've always been taught that, and as I continue to go through life, I'm convinced more and more over time of how true it is.
  The best part though, is not only that family everything, but it is something that goes on forever.  Both in a literal and metaphorical sense.  Nick lives on through his sons, through the attributes he's passed on to them, through the good habits, the example, the hard work and the dedication that he taught them.  His personality quirks,  the things he loves, his hobbies, his passions, his attitude, his consistency, his priorities, even his life's work, has all passed down to his six sons.  The wonderful attributes that he had here on earth will continue to be practiced by them, and their children, and their children's children.  In that sense, it goes on forever, but there's a much stronger, sweeter, forever than that. Not only did he leave a legacy behind through his posterity, but we really are eternally connected through God.  We will all be actually physically together again; death cannot break a family's connection, if anything it makes it stronger, and some day when it's our turn to leave our bodies and move on into the next life, he will be there waiting for us and welcoming us.  Just having this knowledge is one of the most wonderful, and joyful sources of comfort possible here on earth.  I'm so thankful for that knowledge.  It's not just a belief, I know it will happen.  I know it.
Nick knew it too. He knew the importance of family.  Less than two weeks before he passed on, we spent a wonderful evening together with him celebrating his life and his accomplishments.  Each of his sons gave a heartfelt speech about things they've learned from their father and how those things have helped them into their adulthood.  He in turn, spoke about them, and all of us as his family. It was one of the last times he was able to speak for such a long period of time, and even then it required effort.  It's no coincidence that some of his last words were about the value of his family. 

"...My children, daughter's in law, our grandchildren are the greatest gift in life to me. I'm thankful for that.  I'm grateful to Heavenly Father for that. He's made it possible, as have all of you.  I love you more than life itself....I've got what I want for my family, you're doing the right things, you're rearing your children properly, you love each other.  Do what you need to do.  The foundation's been set. Foundations cannot be overemphasized.  You set a foundation; you set it strong, it's really hard to tear that foundation down.  Keep on the path your on.  Keep building that strong foundation with all your kids. You've go a difficult path ahead of you, the world is wicked and it's only going to get worse.  You are purveyors of the truth." Nicholas Craig Itri

Nick loved his family.  He loved his family "more than life itself."  I can't think of anything more honorable in a person than to truly love their family with all their heart, and to continuously express that love and appreciation for them.  He did that.  When Scott and I got married in the temple, and he hugged us both to congratulate us, he turned to Scott, and said, with tears in his eyes, pointing to me, "You treat her like a queen."  It is one of my favorite memories of him I'll ever have.   I'll will cherish that memory for the rest of my life, and I will never forget it.  He already showed a tremendous amount of love for me in that moment, even though he hadn't known me very long.
  I may not have lived here in Pennsylvania with him and seen him all the time,  but I still loved Nick.  I loved watching him tease his sons and play jokes on them, I loved watching him and my brother in law Dan get into sand fights at the beach.  I loved watching my little son Seth crawl in his lap and lean his head on Nick, and Nick in return, rubbed his head in affection.  I loved watching him crack up at silly things and not be able to stop laughing at them.  I loved seeing him sit back and smile in amusement while his grand kids made noise and ran around the house, because he enjoyed having them around even though they were loud and crazy.  I loved seeing my husband talk to him about their jobs, and asking him for advice.  He was a good man.  He passed his test here in mortality.  His sons will carry on the good he gave to the world, and now he can continue to do good in the next life.  I can only hope that one day that I will have a strong positive influence on my children, the way he was able to have a strong influence on his.  Many of his traits were passed on to my husband, Scott.  I fell in love with Scott because of the personality he had, and Nick influenced that.  I will always be grateful to Nick and his wife, Margret, for the good they instilled in Scott.  They gave me my husband, my eternal companion, the person I have chosen to be with forever.  I love both of my in-laws for that.  He has learned so many of his good qualities from each of them.

Our youngest son Samuel, has the name Nicholas for a middle name. We gave him that name, because while we were deciding on names, we heard his health was starting to fail, and we were worried about how much time he had left here. We gave Samuel that middle name, because we wanted him to be able to think about his grandfather in case he wouldn't get the chance to get to know him here here in this life.
When we got out here to see him for the first time since his health started to fail, the first thing Scott did was hand Samuel to him to let him hold him. I didn't have my camera with me at that moment, but thankfully we do have a picture of him holding our last child.  It was the last time we all took pictures as a family.
 We love that we will be able to show Samuel this picture one day, and say that, "That man holding you, is your grandpa, you're  middle name is the same name as his, you were named after him because we loved him, and wanted you to be able to think about him."  Hopefully because Samuel will see that he's being held by him in this picture, and that they share a name, he will be able to have interest in knowing about him and his life as he gets older.

Margie and Nick Itri with all their current grandchildren.

Here is our last picture as a whole family together:

Nick's Legacy

We will all miss him.  It has been a hard few weeks here.  Hard to watch his health deteriorate, and hard to say goodbye for now.  It's hard to grieve, but grief, in itself, is also an important part of life. It's required of all of us to grieve, in order to become more like Christ.  Anyone who experiences sincere love for others, will eventually suffer grief.  Elder Lance B. Wickman, a member of the seventy and an authority in our religion, having experienced his own form of grief for his young son, explained, "Grief is the natural by-product of love.  One cannot selflessly love another person, and not grieve at his suffering or eventual death.  The only way to avoid the grief would be to not experience the love; and it is love that gives life it's richness and meaning."

I love that quote.  That quote has proved itself to be true these last two weeks.  I'm so blessed, and lucky and proud, to be married into a family that has so much love in it.  I've seen love here around me, in spite of the feelings of grief.  Sons loving fathers, Husbands loving wives, parents loving their children, wives being there for their husbands, brothers being there for brothers, and sons being their for their mother. What an incredible thing to be a part of in this world, especially in the times we live in, and what a wonderful thing to enjoy throughout life. THAT is happiness.  The bond that you have as a family not just through the good times, but also the hard ones.  The love that exists and grows between those family members as they go through the craziness of life.  The amount of love that I've seen these last few weeks in this family is truly inspiring, and has made my love for my Itri family grow even stronger.  

Families can be together forever.  Forever in attributes, forever in posterity, forever in both this life and the next, and forever in their love.  

Thank you Nick, for reminding me of that important truth.  Even at the end of your life here in mortality, you still managed to teach and bring your family together, and to help me love and appreciate my husband, children, and extended family more than ever. 

I'm gonna win!!!!

This has pretty much been the most stressful month ever.  Too much happening at the same time.  Adjusting to 4 kids, unexpectedly moving, nursing, packing, figuring out stupid details, deciding to sell our cars, then deciding we may keep one of them, deciding whether or not to buy another car, cleaning, physically recovering from childbirth, blessing Samuel before moving, putting things into storage boxes, RE-packing some things because some things work better in different boxes than others, trying not to ignore my new baby while getting things done, last minute family gatherings and saying goodbye to family and friends,  frequent migraines from a random head cold, pediatrician appointments, transferring school records, looking into East Coast insurance plans, selling our house, sifting through items I want to donate to good will, overloading trash cans, getting up at  3am with the baby,   and NOW Jake has the flu.  He's thrown up 4 times today so far, and I have to keep cleaning him up and changing his clothes and rocking him to sleep, then washing and sanitizing myself right after so I can feed and change Samuel without passing germs on to him.
Its hard not to feel overwhelmed.  I know this will pass and it will all be a memory, but for right now it's hardest for me not to feel angry.  Angry because there's nothing I can do to control the situation, and control anything at this point really, and angry because I'm allowing myself to feel overwhelmed when there are bigger problems out there in the world.
The good news is that one of my biggest talents, is the ability to bounce back when things knock me down.  I may not handle every situation perfectly, I may get stressed, angry, and overwhelmed sometimes, and I may get discouraged, but I  always always always get back up, dust off, and keep going.  It's one of the only things I'm good at.  I know how to keep going.  Sometimes I have to sit down and cry for a minute to release my frustration, but then I fight back.  I don't like loosing, and I don't like quitting.
Usually I deal with my emotions through cardiovascular exercise, but I can't do that for another week and a half, but I still have music.
Music is one of my big outlets for dealing with stress.  So this is my theme song right now, I've been listening to it all day, because life is a race, and I'm going to win. Oh yes, I'm going to win.  Maybe not gracefully, or beautifully, or with poise and class, I may be clawing and biting my way to the finish line covered in mud, and  probably also covered in my kids poop and vomit, and muttering to myself like a  schizophrenic, but I'll get there. I'm going to win.

On other news, we blessed Sammy yesterday.  We wanted to get it done before we left, because we really like the ward/neighborhood we're in, and my parents wanted to be a part of it and Scott's mom said to go ahead and do it out here, so we did.  It was simple and he probably got the least amount of family members attending than my other kids, but it was still a beautiful blessing and I was thankful for the day and the opportunity to appreciate my new son for the day.  He is such a sweet little boy already, and such a well behaved newborn.  I have to set an alarm on my phone to feed and change him because he doesn't cry when when he's dirty or hungry. He hardly cries at all, and I can already see so much love in his darling face when he looks at me and makes eye contact.  I love him so much.  I hope I can give him all the attention he needs in spite of all the recent chaos.  Whenever I can stop and hold him for a little bit, it's comforting, and I'm thankful for that.

This is actually our first family photo with all six of us.  Hurray!!

Words cannot express the amount of love I have for this little face.  

I took this one when he turned 4 weeks old.  We survived the fist month!  Yay!