The Holidays

For Thanksgiving 2012 we decided to have it be with our little family. We could have done a group thing with some members of our ward - or we could have done dinner with our friends the Strait's, but we figured since this was probably the last time we would be away from family during this holiday, we would take advantage and have it be a close and intimate thing with us 4. We had fun playing together, cooking, and we went and saw the movie Wreck It Ralph. We made sure we talked about what we were grateful for and I loved having the 4 of us be together. I remember having such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my family. I am so glad we had little Addy with us, our family felt more complete with her here and it was such a wonderful feeling. During the Christmas holidays we tried to do some new traditions and ones we had always done. We got to go see the Christmas tree at the Capitol, Jax and Addy saw Santa (Jax loved it - Addy was scared) - we had a fun ward party where we went on the "polar express". We were all in PJ’s and Santa and Mrs. Clause came and read all the kids a story.

Christmas our kids got spoiled for sure! We are so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents for our children. They sent lots of gifts and it was so fun to see the kids get so many wonderful things from loved ones. We ate good food, watched new movies, played with new toys, and enjoyed each other and Dan's time off of school!

New years Eve, we went out to eat and Johnny Rockets for dinner and then we had an early family party since they kids would not be staying up until midnight. Dan and I had fun waiting for the ball to drop and then laughed when we realized that our friends in Texas wouldn't be celebrating for another hour, our family and friends in Utah wouldn't be for another 2 hours and our CA family and friends would need to wait 3! It was kind of funny to be celebrating New Years from the "future".

We have/had some fun things to celebrate this year - Addy's first birthday, Dan will graduate Law School, and we will probably be moving back to Utah. Lots of things to be excited for!

September 4, 2012

***This is detailed because I don't want to forget the details. As hard as this was for me to write and read, I wanted to make sure I have this in my records***

We arrived in Virginia on August 23 - we were getting settled and into the grove of things - and then On September 4 at 3:01pm I got this text from my mom "D went to the hospital last night. He had some bleeding. He had a procedure this morning. We are losing him... I can't call each of you.... we are still in the crisis." My brother Trevor responded "Grandpa Koch?" Then a few mins later she wrote back "We just lost Grandpa Koch. We are still in the ICU. All the kids are still coming. The sons and daughters. I will call you when I can."

I was so confused - maybe because I didn't want to understand because the text is pretty clear, but I called my mom and she told me he had just passed away and that she was in the hospital room with him and my aunts and uncles and she would call me later. I couldn't believe it. We had just seen him at Whitney's wedding and right before we moved and he was doing great.

We found out that he had a bleeding ulcer which he has had before. Last time it happened he went to the hospital, they did a quick procedure and he was fine and left the next day. So late on September 3rd after he put my grandma to bed, he realized he had a bleeding ulcer again and that he would need to go to the hospital. He contacted my Uncle Dan to have him go be at the house with Grandma, and he called my mom and dad to meet him at the hospital. It was confirmed that night he had a bleeding ulcer but his blood pressure was kind of low so they were going to do some things to get it up and wait until the morning to do the procedure. My parents checked on him the morning of September 4th and he was doing great - blood pressure was up and he was doing and looking great. The doctors said they would do the quick procedure and he would get to go home the next day.

My aunt Cheri works at the hospital my grandpa was at so she decided to go check on him during the procedure since none of the family was there right then. She could tell things were not going well so she called her husband James and said he needed to hurry and get down there - he then frantically called his brothers and sisters and told them to get to the hospital immediately. My uncle Brent and my aunt Susan live in California so they booked the next flight out of there and hurried to Utah. They all started showing up as fast as they could get there, my parents, James and Cheri, and Kris and Dan were there when the doctors told them what was going on. They went in to do the procedure and one of the things they do is give the patient a medication to thicken the blood so they can stop the bleeding. Well that put strain on grandpa’s heart which was weak. They tried to save him but it was time for him to go. The doctors stopped working on him and left the room and the kids that were there went in and were there when he passed on. They stayed there until all the other kids showed up so they could say their goodbyes. It was a crazy thing and something they needed to do to help him live, was the thing that ended up killing him.

The funeral was planned for Monday September 10th so we flew into Salt Lake on Friday September 7th. Saturday we all met at the Temple and did a sealing session with all the brothers and sisters and grandkids that could do it. The grandkids that were not old enough to do that did baptisms so we could all be in the temple together. It was a very special, sacred moment for our family. One I will cherish and never forget. Sunday we had a special family get together before the viewing where all of us grandkids could share our memories about grandpa. It was so wonderful to listen to people’s memories about him. Then Monday was his funeral and we had all of us grandkids sing a song and me and my mom and 2 of my cousins and an aunt sang "I know that my redeemer lives". I had a very hard time not crying during the song – so when I sat down - I lost it. It was a beautiful funeral and we had a wonderful time talking and spending time together. We were lucky that Mike and Brittney watched Jax and Addy for us so we could enjoy the funeral and not have to try and handle our wiggly kids.

Early Tuesday morning - September 11th we flew home. I was a little worried about flying into DC on Sep 11 (it is considered the most dangerous airport to fly into) but we were told there were extra air marshals on board and that there were other things being done to make sure it was safe. They were also doing random carry on checks and all this other stuff for people flying to DC. It was fine though - we obviously made it alive haha. And really it is probably the safest day to fly because of all those extra things they do LOL.

Jax and Addy did good on the flights and when we got home - it was hard to get back into the swing of things.

I love my Grandpa so much and miss him A LOT! Our annual family trip to St. George in May will not be the same. It is hard knowing that we won't see him on this earth anymore, but I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that I will get to see him again.

Love and miss you Grandpa!

Move to VA

Our move to Virginia went pretty smoothly considering we were moving across the country. First - we drove from Utah to Texas, which takes 15 hours. We got there late Saturday night. Sunday we spent the day recouping from the drive and packing up the last few things for the house that we needed to. Monday morning Dan got the truck, (SIDE NOTE - the truck we reserved was going to be a perfect size for our stuff, when Dan got there - the only truck they had available was the biggest one! They didn't make us pay more for it - but it was huge - we had so much extra room and it probably cost us so much more in gas so I was very irritated, but oh well - side not over) and I went and met with people that were going to be taking over the property management job I was doing... we were basically just finishing up everything we needed to. We had people come over and help us load up the truck and then that afternoon we started our drive.

We only drove to Dallas since we were getting a late start, and also because Dan's dad Rob was flying into the Dallas airport Tuesday afternoon to help us drive the rest of the way. WE WERE SO GRATEFUL HE DID THIS! This allowed Dan and I to be in the same car with the kids so I wouldn't have to do it alone. Tuesday we drove from Dallas Texas to Memphis Tennessee, Wednesday we drove from Memphis to Johnson City Tennessee, and that left Thursday with Johnson City Tennessee to Alexandria VA. We had planned it out so we were doing about 9 hours a day after the Lubbock to Dallas drive. The total driving time from Utah to Virginia was 45 hours - so it was pretty rough. Luckily the kids did GREAT considering. They would get restless for a little while, but we could usually break and let them run around for a bit and they would be fine. Thank GOODNESS for the little DVD player, and my iphone. I don't know how people did it before! Jax watched movies pretty much the entire time and I was able to use the iphone, for GPS and so we could look up hotels and decide where to stay at night and where to eat and all that good stuff. Thursday we thought we were totally fine on time, because all we had to do was get to Alexandria before 5 before the office at our apartment closed so we could sign the lease and get the keys and all that good stuff. I had contacted the elders quorum president of the ward we would be moving into before and asked if they could have people help us move in. On Thursday he called to check in with me and told me to expect traffic - so we ended going from having what we thought would be a 2 hour cushion into rushing and just making it before they closed. HAHA. Once we got to our apartment, we were met by ONE PERSON - the EQ President was the only one that showed up! BOO! But luckily Lydia Strait (the one member that lives in the same apartment complex as us) took Jaxon and Addy and watched them so we could focus on getting the truck unloaded. She also brought us dinner when we were done and gave us a box of starter groceries like milk, eggs, cereal, bread, flour, sugar.... that kind of stuff so we would have stuff to eat without having to run to the store that night. What a huge help and blessing it was to have her help us out like that! Oh - one little hiccup that happened. So I was in the apartment with Jax and Addy waiting for Dan and Rob to bring the truck around. Lydia called and said I could take the kids over so I called Dan, told him I was leaving - unlocked the door and left. A few mins later he called asking where the keys were because the door was locked. Well the keys they had just given us were still sitting on the counter, I didn't worry about it because I had unlocked the door. Apparently the lock on our door sticks so even though you turn it to unlock it... it actually doesn't unlock. So here we are - its now almost 6:00pm - the office is already closed, all of our keys are locking in our apartment, and Dan, Rob, and Rory (the EQ Pres.) are waiting to move stuff in. AHHHHH! I tried calling the afterhours number, but it just goes to voicemail. I obviously felt awful and sick inside. I said LOTS of desperate prayers and luckily Dan saw a maintenance worker walking out of another building so he flagged him down and was able to get into the apartment. PHEW! Our prayers were answered and we were able to continue with what we needed to do.

The next day we spent getting the apartment set up and unpacked. We learned that first night that none of the bedrooms have lights in them..... I know WEIRD! We also have no real pantry for food and the dining room has carpet so I went and got some lamps to put in the rooms, a rug for under our table (which is a card table by the way since we sold our dining room table before we came here) since we have 2 young children that would stain the carpet every time we eat I'm sure - and a few other things we needed.

The next day we explored. We drove to the law school and took a tour, walked to the capitol and around that area, ate at a delicious Irish pub and drove around looking for some of the big things like the Whitehouse. (It had started raining so we figured driving would be best!)

The next day was Sunday and Rob was leaving that afternoon but before he did we made sure we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, and the botanical gardens because those were things Rob really wanted to see. Then we dropped him off at the airport and said our goodbyes.

It was good to finally be at our new home and start to settle into our new life in Virginia/DC.

12-14-12

December 14th was a very sad day. A shooter went into an elementary in CT and shot and killed 26 people, most of which were first graders.

This is such a devastating thing to hear about, and having a child who is not much younger than those kids, I have so much sorrow in my heart for those parents. Those kids went to school that day just like any other day. They were excited for Christmas that is right around the corner.

I can't imagine how devastated those families were to lose such sweet children so early in life. We pray for their comfort and hope tragic events like this don't happen in the future.

Tell the ones you love that you love them as often as possible. I hope we don't forget the lives that were forever changed on 12-14-12.

Summer in Utah

Ok so I am going to play some catch up.I'm just going to post a little bit and a few pictures about our time in Utah over the summer. The first big thing - my sister Whitney got married! AHHHH! It was such a fun day! We were very lucky and had Mike and Brittany watch the kids so we could enjoy and help with the wedding, and luncheon and pictures and all that - then we picked them up and they joined us at the reception to be in all the pictures for that. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad Corbin is part of our fam! 

The second big thing was we went to Lagoon as a family with Dan's family. It was actually the day before we left to drive home so we were packing pretty frantically that night and the next morning, but it was worth it. Jaxon LOVED it - Addy slept a lot. We spent the first part of the day at the water park they have there - me and Addy stayed out since I wanted her to nap during that time. Dan and Jax had a blast! And the end of the night Jake and I did the skycoaster. He had never been and no one else would go with him and I love doing that so we went. It was a blast - no pics of that sadly. :(

 

 

 

 



And last but NOT least - we got to spend time with family. We stayed with my parents so we saw them a lot and Landon made sure Jaxon saw starwars and he let him play with his guns - Jax was in heaven! We got to meet Alia (my brother Trevor and his wife Jordyn's daughter) for the first time! She is mine and Dan's first niece! We were finally made and aunt and uncle when they had her! WAHOO! So Addy and her "played" together! And we made sure we visited the Garners as much as we could so the kids could be with their other grandparents and aunt and uncles!

 

We had a great summer. It was also full of stress! Dan took a LOT of classes and had to spend most of the summer in Texas while we were in Utah and we also had to pack - figure out what to do with our house so we could move. But it was great to get to spend the time with our Utah fam and friends!

All About Addy

So Addison had her 9 month appointment the day after Thanksgiving, at which point she was a little over 10 months haha! Oh the joys of moving. So here are her stats as of right now and a little bit about our fun loving little girl!

Height - 27.5" - 23%

Weight - 17.8 lbs - 29%

Head - 17.25 - 35%

She still has a little umbilical granuloma (sp??) that they have been treating since she was born and since it hasn't gone away we have a consultation with a pediatric suergon on the 21st to go over removal options. The fact that it still bleeds frequently is something that makes me and the doctors want to get it taken care of as soon as possible - but having this poor thing have another "surgery" is not something I want. I don't think they will have to put her under or anything but we will find out more on the 21st.

Addy, there are so many things we love about you! Right now you are:

*Crawling and speed crawling

*Standing up and walking while holding onto fingers or furniture

*Pulling everything out of any cabinet you can

*Speed crawling to a bathroom when you see the door open and trying to play in whatever water you can find (toiled {YUCK} or tub)

*Taking baths with Jax or by yourself everyday because you LOVE them so much

*Saying mama and dada occasionally

*Squealing, screaming, and giggling

*Loving playing at the park, on the swings especially but you love crawling around on the grass, in the dirt, or using the toys to stand up and walk around

*Playing with Jaxon and holding your own with him - you are the perfect little sister for him!

*Eating lots of new things

*Throwing toys or food over your head/shoulder

*Putting whatever you find on the floor in your mouth

*Getting more teeth in but right now you have 4 (2 top, 2 bottom)

*playing with your hair while you drink your bottle when you are really tired

You do so much and learn so much everyday! We love you and you are a perfect addition to our family! Jaxon loves having you as his sister and dad and I feel so blessed to have such a sweet, fun loving girl in our family!

Trick? or Treat?

Today is a day that as a parent, I don't ever want to forget.

I want the images of today burned in my memory forever.

We started out the day going to a show called "The Great Zucchini" (a kid’s entertainer) at one of the Smithsonian museums.

Jaxon was laughing so hard that he couldn't sit up, he had to lay on the floor and laugh - that gives an entirely new meaning to ROTFL for me.

Parents around us were even laughing because he was laughing so hard - it was infectious. The entertainer loved it because even things that were not that funny - Jaxon made funny by laughing so hard.

Jax even got to go up on stage and help him - he was so cute. He loved it. I love it. I love him. Addy was great - happy and content and darling.

We went home and played and had a good time - then Jax watched part of a movie while I got some work done and Addy took a nap and then we got ready to go trick-or-treating.

We drove into DC and met our friends at their house in Capitol Hill - we walked to a little Halloween Party and then started trick or treating in East Capitol Hill. It was so much fun and I loved every second of it.

It was very different than any trick-or-treating I have done - so much better - it was so much fun.

It was cold - Addy cried and fussed a little because she was cold - Jax got scared - I got scared when Jax would run toward the street - lots of amazing costumes - awesome people with their wine glasses sitting and enjoying their evening handing out candy to the dressed up excited kids - Jax's excitement at each new house - him saying trick-or-treat and then Thank you after he received candy - Jax making people laugh because of funny things he says - the conversations I have with Jax - the smiles I get from Addy - the great sport that Addy is - missing Dan and wishing he was with us - getting so excited when Dan got out of class earlier than expected - the awesome feeling of walking around with everyone in fun creative costumes and talking to complete strangers - getting yummy candy - watching Jax get so excited over his candy - asking if he can have one more piece 8 times.

 So much about today I don't want to forget - we missed Dan being able to trick or treat with us but are so grateful to new friends for inviting us and helping out with Jax to make our night so fun.

What a great day!