Gone

Almost one year ago something miraculous happened for our family.  Randy met with someone that said he'd be a great fit for Boston Scientific and that they were looking for a rep for Wyoming.  This got Randy thinking... So he started looking for the managers name and number for Wyoming.  On a connecting flight out of Salt Lake City, Randy happened to sit next to the man that would soon become his new boss.  Miraculous!  So, after many tears, a rough goodbye, Randy went to work for his competitor at Medtronic, Boston Scientific.  Because he couldn't see the same doctors that he'd been seeing in Casper, Boston offered him a set salary and commission structure for one year.  They promised him more, so that it would be worth it to make the hard change. Fast forward a few months to Randy's NEW boss.  A boss that actually told another rep, "I'm not sure why Sam even hired Randy.  Is Wyoming even worth the trouble?"  Another time, in the same breath, he said to Randy, "I'm disappointed you didn't make quota this quarter (although he had stuff in the pipeline better than most in the region), and you're putting too many miles on your car, so I need you to stay home."  So, tell me this, if he can't put miles on his car to go see the new docs, how is he going to make quota?  It killed Randy to have to stay home!  If you know Randy, he's a goer.  Sometimes too much.  Like when he painted our basement in Casper the day he got his wisdom teeth pulled.  Yep, a goer!  Now, take into account how Randy found two new doctors and made them Boston Scientific loyal.  October alone he had 9 new cases.  The usually hope for 1 a week!  November, December and beyond are shaping up to be just as great.  Is Wyoming worth it?  You bet, especially after his territory opens up again to include Casper.  One thing is certain, Randy Dirks is worth it.  He had such a hard time for months!  His boss didn't start becoming even remotely nice until the cases started to roll in- even after he knew that it takes months sometimes for them to go through insurance.  Once again, on a flight, he me up with a man that isn't his new boss, but helped him get this new job.  One that he's excited to have.  His new employer is New World Systems.  They sell Law Enforcement Software- what Randy first got into after graduating Weber State University December 2002 in Technical Sales.  He interviewed with TWELVE different people, gave a 10 minute presentation of his choice, and finally got the job on Darwin's birthday, 11 October, 2012!  Now 20 days later, he's in our 24' Budget moving truck on his way to Utah.  All of our worldly possessions are packed in that truck!  We're sad to leave a great company like Boston Scientific, even sadder that it was because of one man's decisions and attitude, but excited for the new changes coming our way.  Now comes the cleaning of this empty beautiful home.  On a side note (a brag about my husband, really) when he gave the 10 minute presentation he was warned beforehand that they were going to try and mess him up by asking questions throughout.  As he was finishing up, he said, "I was told you were going to try and confuse me with questions throughout.  Does anyone have any questions now that I'm done?"  The comment was made, "Out of all the presentations we've ever had, yours was the most interesting!"  They asked him references, asked about the book he got his information from so they could read it, and simply gushed about how perfect and flawless it was.  Out of ALL of them, his was the most interesting!  Randy Dirks is worth it!  And he's mine:)

Pair

I love it when you can "see" the wheels turning in a childs' brain.  Today Shelby said, "Mom, a pair is two.  Why do we say 'pair of pants' but only wear one?"  Honestly, I'm not really sure.  Do you know why?

Echo

I'd love to hear my voice echo back to me while standing at the top of the Grand Canyon, or somewhere grand and beautiful like that. 
I'm not really loving the echo that is coming back to me as our house is getting more and more empty.  Depressing.
But, the adventure that is waiting to begin on the 30th of October is pretty exciting!  Isn't it weird how one event can be scary/exciting/depressing/rushed/dragging/fun?!

My Dad!

My dad is amazing. He's a miracle, really.  I was talking to him yesterday, telling him all of our good news about the upcoming three weeks ahead of us, and found out some pretty interesting stuff about him as well.  He got pretty sick a few months ago and went in for four different blood tests, MRI, CT Scan, and EEG.  Sounds like my year as well.  It's been a pretty expensive year of medical bills for the Burrell family.  Anyway, while talking to the Neurologist about his MRI, he found out that he's got atrophy in his spinal cord from the cancer surgery he had when I was a baby.  The doctor told him he didn't know how he functioned.  He has no feeling in his body, had to learn to do everything all over again, even had to train himself to use his left hand because he doesn't have enough function of his right.  The doctor also told him that there was a similar surgery done in Colorado on a man around the same age as my dad around the same time he had his surgery that is now in a scooter without use of his legs.  My dad is truly a miracle.  Then it dawned on me; if things had turned out differently, I'd have been an only child.  I wouldn't have the love, support, friendship, happiness, memories, or life I have now.  No sisters to laugh with, love, cry with, joke with, joke about, or call every day.  I would have been lonely.  I wouldn't have McKaylee, Payton, Daphnee, Austen, or Kenyan.  I wouldn't have a daughter named Keilie who was named after my sister Keilie that passed away when I was five.  Things would have been different.  My Dad told me something yesterday that has stuck with me, making me even more grateful for his life- that he survived.  Grateful that they were able to revive him those three times his heart stopped while getting the cancer removed from his spinal cord.  The first steps my dad ever saw me take, ever saw one of his daughters take, was when he was in the ICU.  I came in on two feet and "ran" to my daddy.  He said he almost lost it, I could walk now.  I remember every step my babies ever took.  Caden in our apartment in Houston, TX, Keilie in our home in Nibley, UT, Shelby in our home in Casper, WY, Brennon (late) and Tyson in our home in Bar Nunn, WY.  Each step taken in our home.  My own first steps, witnessed by the most incredible man in my world, in the ICU.  Oh, how much I love my Dad.  He is such an inspiration to me.  He's famous for his line, "This, too, shall pass!"  He has perfect knowledge of that one, doesn't he.  Cancer at 22, death of a daughter at 26, trials of raising 4 daughters to adulthood (no small task, I assure you), and simply life.  He was, and will always be, my first Hero!  I love you Wayne Burrell!!!

Our Rental!!!

Finished November 1st for our November 3rd move in!  I feel less stressed about the fast move now that I know where we're going.  Now we need to get up there, sign for our lot, and start looking for builders:)  Fun, Fun!!!

Gifts

Today I had a few minutes before we had an inspector come for our buyers, so I decided to take a small nap with Tyson.  I was almost asleep when I felt slight pressure on my back.  Tyson whispered, "Mom, I put a bugger on your back."  Pure and Simple.  No laughing.  Honest!  So I said, "Kay.  Now go to sleep!" and instantly fell asleep with a gift on my back:)

Shelby's Learning!

* Mom, our hair is dead skin.
* Mom, our brain tells us everything.
* Mom, our heart pumps blood through our whole body and into our muscles.
* Mom, our heart really isn't shaped like a heart.
* Mom, our tongue is the strongest muscle in our body.
She is learning a new letter every day, which means that she's always sounding different things out since she already knows her letters.  She's writing different things on anything she can get her hands on.  She doesn't spell everything right, but she's doing great.  She loves to sit down and read.  However, now she doesn't like it when I read the words that she knows.  She's even starting to sound out larger words.  She is really enjoying reading.  Which I love!  Brennon is catching on along with us.  He wants to do everything that she's doing.  I love how close they are.  Learning at this age is fun!

Apart

On Saturday, while at Jonathan's birthday party (we celebrated Ty's in South Dakota), somehow the topic of being apart came up.  I'm really not sure how the subject came, or really how the sentence went, but Shelby said, "Kennedy and I are not apart, we're Best Friends!"  I need to remember that as the day quickly approaches when Kimberly and I will be apart.  It will be HARD, but I know it will be easier knowing we'll always stay Best Friends.  This morning while trying to get my lazy self out of bed, I was thinking of a gift I'm going to make for Kimberly, trying to come up with a saying just for her.  Since I'm not clever with words, this may sound lame to some, but to me, it's perfect.  Friends in Heaven, Friends for good!

Mount Rushmore 2012

The first time we went to Mount Rushmore was when I was pregnant with Shelby.  We didn't realize they didn't take credit cards, so we had to turn around in the parking lot.  I never got close enough to really look. This was one of the things we needed to do before moving away from Casper.  We left on the 11th after school and came home on the 13th.  Perfect little vacation and fun way to celebrate Tyson's 3rd birthday!

This was also a fun trip because Randy found out all about his new job with New World Systemns and how much they were going to offer him.  So, while we were excited about the beauty all around, we were also excited about the adventure coming up for our family!

 After that, we decided to see more of the black hills.  We went to Rushmore Cave.  It was amazing.  By the time you made it back to your car after the tour, you'd walked over 500 stairs.  It didn't feel like it, since most of the time you were looking around at all of the splendor.  There is evidence that that cave is over 1400 years old.  Awesome!  It was also neat to see that the stalactites and stalactites are transparent.  He placed his flashlight on different ones to show us the beautiful different colors ranging from clear to frosted coral.  Beautiful.  We also found out that three different couples were married in the cave.  Not my thing, but cool just the same.

 This is the Zipline.  Brennon and Tyson were too short to ride.  Let me tell you, they were TICKED.  They're like me and like rides, so I stayed back with them.  Above is Caden and Keilie.  It was fun to see their excitement as they were being buckled in.  They were looking at each other and laughing.  As soon as the ride started Keilie sat straight back, pushed her head to the rest, while her face because shear terror!  I was laughing so hard.  She was so nervous:)

 Randy was looking at Shelby the whole time.  I think it was easier for her with Randy right next to her.  She just sat there with a cute smile on her face.  I, however, was still laughing at Keilie's face!

This little guy threw the biggest tantrum because he didn't get to ride.  We had to carry him to the car kicking and screaming.  He put his head down the second he got in the car to "punish" us.  He ended up taking a 2 hour nap.  He's been having these kinds of tantrums ever since.  We've always had terrible threes.  Hope it doesn't last a whole year!

Faces

Before we leave Wyoming, we wanted to make sure we visited all of the sites around here.  So, Randy decided that we needed to go to Mount Rushmore, since the last time we went it didn't take Visa so we had to turn around and go home.  Literally!  This time, they take Visa.  I would have taken cash before if I would have known that they hadn't come into the 20th century!  So, "We're off to see the 'faces!'" as Shelby sang this morning.  Yep, they know the tune to all things Wicked/Wizard of Oz.  If I had my way, we'd all dress up for Halloween...

Randy/Wizard
Stephanie/ Elphaba
Caden/ Tin Man
Keilie/ Glinda
Shelby/ Dorothy
Brennon/ Scarecrow
Tyson/ Lion (although we all know how the Lion costume went over with him last year!)

Our Lot

 Columbia River Washington Temple.

This will officially be our new temple.

Mostly because we're going to build our house directly across the street from it!

We're building!!!

And this is the house we want!!! 

We're talking to our realtor to see if this can be modified to fit the covenants (it has to have brick, rock, and stucco) and will begin as soon as we can.  Randy LOVES the garage/workshop/man cave.  I LOVE the Kitchen (and oddly enough, the laundry right next to it!  Remember my laundry chute?!)  We're both unsure what we're going to do with such a mammoth bedroom.  However, we know what we're going to do with the office/homeschool/guest suite.  Homeschool!  Not!!  We're going to invite you all to visit and use it, of course!!!  We're going to have a basement as well, so there will be plenty of space to bring your entire family.  Aunts, Uncles, Cousins...

Can't wait to tell you where our lot is!!!

SOLD!

We had some friend's over on Monday after she called saying they'd like to see our house.  They brought pizza, we got the house showable...Party!  It almost seems unreal now, but while they were looking through our house, they kept telling us how much they liked it.  I thought they were just being nice.  They were serious!  This morning at 10:00am their offer was placed.  With Randy being out of town, we don't get to accept until tomorrow morning.  The surreal thing about all of this is this will be the third house we've sold on the first showing.  This one didn't really count as a showing, we just thought they were looking.  We didn't realize they were looking to buy!  It's contingent on the sale of their home, but their realtor is sure their home will sell quick.  No rush!  We now need to find a place to move:)  More news on that coming next week!

Life

Randy was shocked to see that I'd only posted a few times in all of September.  He was somewhat chastising me because this really is a journal of our lives.  So, to make it up to him, I'll let you all in on what has been going on.

*Reading with Shelby.  She's learning so much every day.  I love to see her excitement for books and school.
*Reading with Caden and Keilie.  We just finished Double Fudge.  I love hearing them giggle together.
*Fundraiser.  Bar Nunn Elementary is doing a fundraiser to get new playground equipment.  So, we participated.  Let me just say, I can't stand fundraisers, but when you see the kids' come together without one argument, you kind of look at them just a little bit differently.
*Keilie lost another tooth.  However, she saved it in her pocket to take to school so that she could get a "tooth chest" to save it in.  Nice!
*Relief Society has taken quite a few of my kid-less mornings.  We're putting together a Birthday gift and the Christmas gifts before Raquel has her sweet Aurora.  It's been crazy, however, it will all be worth it when we don't have as much to do.
*We (as in Randy and Steve) finished Danielle's condo.  She's in the process of purchasing it from us.  It was a lot of work, but it looks so great.  Or so I've been told.  I still haven't been able to see it after the whole place was gutted!  Soon.  I hope!
*Randy was released from the Young Men's Presidency and Scouts.  He still is in charge of fundraising, but that work was done in the summer.  It's nice to have him home more on Wednesday nights.  Although, he really does miss those boys.  He was their adviser for two years.
*I've still been reading for myself as well.  I just finished the first book of a really good series.  If you have the time, read Divergent by: Veronica Roth.  It's GOOD!
*Cleaning my house.  Randy actually said that vacuuming is more of a hobby for me.  I admit, I do love the look of freshly vacuumed floors.  I love the feeling of a clean house.  Especially now since the house is on the market and it needs to be spotless at a moment's notice!
*Potty training Bella.  She's doing well, although we still don't trust her to be unattended in our house.  Can't wait until she can be inside without a chaperon.
*I met with a woman that has a body scan that said I have a week lymphatic system- among many other things.  When researching it, we found all of the symptoms that I've been suffering from for years.  I was just looking in all the wrong places.  She's got me started on some vitamins, herbal supplements  and other such Chinese medicines.  I'm finally starting to get better.  And, if you remember my dark under-eye circles of a 50 year old woman, they are getting lighter.  Really!  They're more like a 40 year old woman now!  She said they would, and they are.  It's not in my head either.  Randy and I know we're on the right track!  Finally!

October is shaping up to be even busier for us than September.  Exciting news hopefully coming on Friday.  Are you at the edge of your seats?  You better be.  Sitting down at least:)