Below is our 12 months of marriage for our 5th year of marriage. This is one of our favorite traditions. We enjoy reminiscing about our memories, blessings, and highlights from the year. I am way too late finally posting it this year, but that's just a result of a busy, happy life! Hope you all enjoy.
12 Chickens--We ventured out and got a dozen chickens this year. We loved those tiny chicks, and we even loved them when they grew up! Between each rotation, Kolt had a week break. We joked that between each rotation we would get a new animal. One break was chickens, one break was a dog, and we even got 4 pigs this year. It's been fun to have just a couple of different kinds of animals. The kids soak up every second of it. It's been an adventure to say the least. We learn more and more every day, but we've having fun learning together.
11 Volleyball Players on my Team--I started my 6th year of coaching the freshman volleyball team at Bonneville High School. I love coaching these girls. I enjoy getting to know the good young women and also watching them improve as volleyball players throughout the year. I was super thankful to my mother-in-law who watched the kids nearly every day, so I could focus on coaching. It was a great blessing!
10 Thousand Miles on our New Car--This year we got a new-to-us car. We got a 2007 GMC Yukon, and we really love it! It is so comfortable and easy for the kids to ride in. We feel pretty spoiled. It had quite a few miles on it, but we added just over 10,000 more. Between multiple trips to Butte, a family vacation to Philipsburg and Anaconda, and a couple trips to Utah, we really added them up. We actually had an alternator go out on one of our late night trips home from Butte. A pretty bad breakdown turned into a small road bump thanks to Shane and all his help. I'm thankful we made it safely from home to our destinations and back each time.
9 Months of Pregnancy--As many of you might know, pregnancy for me is no walk in the park! Hallie's pregnancy was probably the toughest as I suffered from a kidney stone that really took a toll on me. I was in bed for many days and then fine for many days. The pain really threw me for a loop when it first started. I thought I was going into labor early. After a visit to the doctor's office, I found out that it was a kidney stone. A little later I ended up spending the night in the hospital with some pretty excruciating pain. I'm thankful for my parents who watched our kids while I stayed, so Kolt could be with me. Fortunately, the last couple months seemed to lighten up and we were able to get through it. I'm very thankful for a loving and patient husband who picks up the slack when I am pregnant, without a hesitation or complaint. I couldn't get through it without him and his support.
8 Rotations--Kolt made it through 8 rotations in his second and final year of PA School. He really did a great job, getting excellent reviews from each rotation and making some pretty awesome relationships with each of the providers who allowed him to follow him. He learned so much these rotations in each of the medical fields he worked in. He learned a lot about what he loved and what fields he has a passion for. The rotation year was tough in that every 5 weeks he would restart at a new clinic, learning the new ways of each clinic and provider. Kolt's great ability to observe others and learn quickly helped him so much. I'm thankful for this year of learning that we were able to do.
7 Days of Being Nervous for Preschool--Kason, who is 4, started his first year of preschool this year. He was very skeptical and nervous to go. He never did cry, but he was scared and just kept telling us he didn't want to go. It took a little over a week for him to decide he loved it. On the 4th day of school in the second week, I told him that he had preschool in the morning. He likes to know what the plan is and doesn't love surprises. He responded, "Yay! I love preschool1" From then on, he looked forward to it every day. He comes home and tells me all about it. He loves learning, he likes his teacher, and he is making friends. I'm sure thankful for this sweet, thoughtful boy who loves his mommy. I'm not sure what we would do without him.
6 Wardrobe Changes A Day--Kolay, who is 2, loves to dress up and change clothes! She loves to wear dresses, change shoes, and change outfits for any reason. The second she gets water on her shirt she is ripping it off, ready to change. The only thing she changes quicker than her clothes is her mood. She is full of emotions each day. She can be happy, sad, mad, excited, surprised, scared and grumpy all in one day. However 95% of the day, she is happy. She has a pretty contagious passion for all things in life. It is hard not to be happy around Kolay because she celebrates the tiniest little things. It serves as a great reminder for us each day to celebrate the small victories and just be happy.
5 Weeks in Butte--In May of this year, we found a rental home and moved to Butte, Montana for 5 weeks. I won't lie, this was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. I love my family and just love living near them. In those 5 weeks, we did a lot of traveling, exploring, hiking and discovering. We saw everything there is to see in Butte and most of the surrounding areas. Thankfully Kolt's hours were pretty family friendly, so we were able to do that. We had our dog Ridge with us at the time. He was a good relief of the stress from being away and also gave us good reason to be outside and get moving. We missed having a yard and places to play outside, so Ridge was an excuse to go hiking and playing. One of the days up there my car was broken into and my wallet was stripped. It was a pretty tough time for me, but we were able to work together and overcome it. Our experience in Butte was great for us. It was a good discovery for us as we realized living by grandparents, cousins and siblings is one is pretty darn important to us. We also realized that among all the things in the world that may change or distract us, our own family is the most important thing in the world and together we can get through some tough challenges.
4 Seasons of Arrow--Kolt and I enjoy watching TV series together on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon. As life gets busier, we don't always have time to get into a series, but we really enjoy the stress relief it gives us as we settle into bed and watch an episode. I'm not sure it's the best use of our time, but for now, it gives us a good relief of the stresses from every day life. This year we watched a series called Arrow. It was an action movie about a superhero called The Arrow. It had a great love story too, so it fit both of our requirements for a good movie.
3 Weeks of Moving--In August, we made our first family move out to Milo in Shane and Angela's white house. I learned that I don't want to move again any time in the near future. That is tough work! We spent a LONG time cleaning the new house, packing things up from my parents home, and moving it into the new house. The kids were excited about the move and taking their things to a new place. They love being on the acreage and having lots of room for animals and also seeing them right out the windows. We are so thankful to Shane and Angela for opening up their house to us. It was a pretty perfect fit for us as Kolt graduated from the PA Program this year. We are also very thankful for my parents for letting us live with them for just under five years. It is going to be a memory that we always enjoy looking back on. As we had more children, we know we weren't the easiest to live with, but we appreciate their selflessness and willingness to let us invade their home.
2nd Year of PA School Finished--Kolt graduated from ISU's Physician Assistant Program on August 4, 2017. It was definitely a highlight of the 5th year of marriage. The ceremony was excellent and actually fairly emotional as I watched each student accept his or her diploma, many of which had families and children and many others who had taken to our children and spent time with them at the various school events. PA School will probably always be one of the toughtest things we've ever had to do, but I'm thankful for my awesome husband who did it with such poise and commitment. He really worked hard and never got discouraged. I appreciate that so much as his wife and children often took much of his time. We are thankful to our family and friends who supported and helped us along the way.
1 New Baby--We welcomed Miss Hallie Piquet to our family on January 28, 2017 at 9:21 AM. She weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and measured 21 inches long. I went into labor at 3 AM on Saturday morning. I was extremely uncomfortable and couldn't sleep. I woke Kolt up, and he helped me take a bath and then take nearly 75 laps up the stairs and down around the couch until I was positive the contractions were real. Kolt also had the ability to check my cervix which he did and told me that I had dilated more, so we left the kids with my parents and headed to the hospital about 6 AM. Not long after that, they got me my epidural and I was dilated to a 9. The rest happened quickly. My doctor was out of the office due to a Lasik surgery, but that awesome guy answered his phone and told us he was coming in. I can't even describe to you my relief when I heard that. He came in broke my water and then Kolt delivered our third baby. She was perfect the moment I saw her! She was chubby and dark and so peaceful. Hallie (who was practically named by her brother) has been the perfect addition to our family, and she is loved more than she will ever know.
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