Yes it is true, we have moved again! As I typed Destination H in the title I realized that makes 8 moves for us since the end of May.
This move was our easiest one yet, only a 3 1/2 hour drive to Durango. Clark's parents came with their truck to help us haul all of our stuff. Harvey and Rebecca came to help us load the cars and clean. With all of the extra hands the job was done really fast.
Albuquerque has been good to us, we will always have fond memories of our little pueblo apartment 46 F. We are excited to be in Durango now while Clark works with a local podiatrist. It will be great to have time with all of the family here. Today before lunch the boys came riding up to the house with Clark in the big green tractor with huge grins on their faces. They are going to love Destination H!
The best part of being in Albuquerque was being able to be close to Uncle Harvey and Aunt Rebecca, or Hawvey and Webecca as Ethan says.
We loved getting to know them better sharing meals and even having a movie day! They are wonderful people, always serving and helping everyone around them. Thanks so much for all you did for us. We will miss you guys a lot!
Our last week in Albuquerque was awesome because my sister-in-law Erica flew in for a visit on Thursday. We had so much fun shopping, a girls trip to the movies, trying lots of good treats at Trader Joe's, and even a few Costco runs.
On Tuesday evening we took the Sandia Peak Tram. We got to the top just in time to watch the sunset. At the top the winds were blowing over 30 mph, so it seemed like an extreme sport getting back into that tram to come back down. It was fun to see the lights of the city on our way back.
I think this was Grandma's face when the man told us we were 1,000 feet above the canyon...or 8 seconds down.
I loved getting to spend time with Grandma and with Erica exploring Albuquerque. Thanks for coming guys!
So today I decided I really needed a haircut, its been over 3 months and Clark wasn't working, so I could go. I shopped around online for some decent priced haircut places and made a bunch of phone calls. I felt lucky that Antonio's Artistic Hair Center could get me in on such short notice, bonus that they had a link to a $10 off coupon! I noticed on their website that basic women's haircuts are $26, but Antonio's Expert Haircut is $46. I wondered who this Antonio guy could be to charge $20 more than the rest of the staff.
When I showed up I signed in and was informed that my appointment was with Antonio. That is when I saw the young Fabio looking Latino man giving a girl hair extensions, I of course thought that must be Antonio the "expert."
Boy was I ever surprised when an elderly gentleman shuffled to the front of the store and called my name. He introduced himself as Antonio. I mean no disrespect to the man, but he appeared to be 95! He was stooped over, could barely walk, and had a noticeable tremor in his hands and arms! I looked around for a hidden camera, surely this man will not be approaching me with a pair of scissors! There was no hidden camera, the shampoo consisted of literally getting shampoo slapped on my head and face, there was no massaging or cleaning done.
After that I decided to just get out with as little damage possible. I asked for a 1 inch trim, a few long layers, and trim the bangs. The whole process was so painful. To start he couldn't find his shears, he dropped his comb on the floor and then very painfully bent down to pick it up (I felt so guilty not jumping down and picking it up for him), ther was a close call with the razor and my eyelashes, the akwardness when his fingers didn't have the strength to turn the blow dryer on and off. There was no small talk or chatting, in fact there was a large TV next to our work station blaring the CNN GOP Maine caucus results. The worst part was the akward glances and apologetic stares of his fellow staff who did not have any work to do, it was clear they wouldn't let Antonio touch them with a pair of scissors! Young Fabio kept coming by and asking me if everything was okay, I wanted to scream, "have you seen my new mullet Rico Suave, do you think I'm okay?!"
In the end I came home with a lot of bangs, greasy hair, jagged texture (my hair was cut by a shaking razor), and a very scraggly and thin long layer of hair. My expert syle made me feel more like the bride of Frankenstein.
Photo taken right when I walked in the door.
Would you call this an expert style?
What do you do with so many bangs? They start in the middle of my head.
I'm mostly ticked that I had to pay the $20 extra for Antonio's Expert Style. It's time Antonio to hang up the scissors!
Although I know I'll love him at every age and stage, it is hard to imagine Caden being more delightful than he is at 20 months! His personality is coming out and everyday he seems to learn something new. He is so proud of his new learning, and wants approval and recognition for everything that he does.
His vocabulary is expanding. If you ever have a chance to hold him beware your eyes getting poked out, or your nose getting picked - he loves to point to body parts and name them. This video shows some of his animal words, my favorite is how he says monkey in his low voice.
He is playful and rambunctious, always wanting to wrestle with his Dad. He shows a lot of enthusiasm for the small things in life. His reaction to a gummy bear treat will make you think he just won the Super Bowl.
He has a fun sense of humor, and knows when he is being funny.
He can be mischievious and not even care, like today when he finger painted his crib and bed with the "paint" he found in his diaper. EW.
Physically he feels like he is as big as his older brother, he climbs up and jumps off everything! Evel Knievel on his brother's bike.
But the thing I love most right now about this 20 month old is how he shows love.
I think it is the best feeling in the world to be loved by Caden. He is a momma's boy and it melts my heart. He is the best at giving big tight hugs around the neck, and lots of smooches. I'm so glad that he loves to snuggle.
I feel so loved when I go to get him out of his crib in the morning and he is jumping up and down with excitement. I feel so loved when I hear him crying "momma, momma" in the night (however, I wouldn't at all be offended if he cried for Dadda, Dadda once in awhile). I feel so loved when I go to pick him up from nursery on Sunday and he comes running to me. The last few times he has started weeping like he is so relieved to see me and then holds on to me tight for dear life.
Regardless of my mood, or how I am acting Caden shows his love unconditionally. I'm a lucky girl to be so loved.
While we were in Durango this weekend Ethan out of the blue said, "Hey Grandpa, do you have any helmets?" I of course questioned why he would need a helmet. He replied that he wanted to be a super hero. So of course Grandpa found him a helmet. Then Ethan asked for a cape, Grandpa loaned him his Superman pajama shirt instead. And so a super hero was born! One that had a hard time holding up his head with the weight of the helmet, but super nonetheless!
My boys are pretty lucky to have Grandpa Johnson, a real super hero they can look up to!
A definite perk of being in Albuquerque is that we are only 3 1/2 hours from Durango. We were able to go up this weekend to celebrate our sweet new nephew Daniel's blessing day!
That is the question. Part of the fun of this traveling 4th year of medical school is that each program we have visited has pretty much been a month long interview for Clark for a potential residency. Tonight we had to rank our programs in order from best to worst, where we would most like to do a residency for the next 3 years. Talk about a hard decision! I've never liked having to make big life changing decisions. For the past month we've talked daily about the pros and cons of each program. There were so many things to consider. I do have faith that the Lord is mindful of each of us and leads us in our lives, yet I still stress about big decisions. After much prayer and fasting we feel peace tonight about the decisions we made.
This scripture from the Book of Mormon is one of my favorites when I feel nervous about a big change coming up in my life.
1 Nephi 17:13 And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that is it by me that ye are led.
Without any doubt I can say that I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. When we try to do what is right, and act on what we feel the Holy Ghost prompting us to do, we can see the hand of God in our lives leading our little family to the places we should be.
Now we just have to wait until April to see how this giant matching game turned out, and find out where we will be going!
