How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. ~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

So, it is official...the house is sold. We will be leaving by the end of the month and the house will close very soon after. I wanted to get my thoughts down about this move.

First, Star Valley has been the closest thing to a home for me that I have had other than New York. It is a safe and honest place to be. Eight years is the longest I have ever stayed in one place. I could see my kids graduating with the same kids they went to first grade with. I saw a future here, that was a new feeling. The safety you feel in a small community I am sure to find in other towns, but the safety of being hugged by a massive mountain range is different. If the rest of the world would shut down I know that my family would be safe here. That is going to be a tough one to get over. And then there are the schools. They are very well funded and the teachers are all great. I have been told that a private education is not as good as what we get here...(thanks to the taxes big oil pays to lease land in Wyoming). I am going to miss my 2 acres that the kids can play on, the quite and large neighborhood they ride around in and are safe in. (not to mention not having to pick up my dogs poop, because he goes out in the field) I am going to miss the seeing the mountains from every angle and I am really going to miss the summers in the valley. I am going to miss the smell of being in the mountains and pine trees every time I walk out of my door. The mountain streams and valleys 5 minutes away are priceless. I will miss the friends I have made. Most of them are more like family because those of us in the small valley with out extended family around have banded together.

Second, I am not going to miss only having a Family Dollar and one grocery store that closes at 8 p.m. every night. I am not going to miss seeing people you know every where you go...this makes a short grocery store visit a long grocery store visit. Along those lines, I am not going to miss knowing every person you pass on the road and realizing that they are waving to you just late enough to make you look rude for not waving back. I am not going to miss driving 2 hours for orthodontist and doctor visits. I am not going to miss driving 4 hours to the nearest airport so that I can fly home to see my family. I am not going to miss the 7 months of snow. I know I won't miss small minded things that happen in close communities...let me add that I am sure I will find it in other places. It just takes a while to find when your new:) I am not going to miss rodeos....and cowboy hats. I am not going to miss Maverik.

So, for the time I got to spend in Smoot and Afton, Wyoming....I am grateful. Home. I hope to return someday. Adieu...

Life as a "Single Mom"...this is tougher than I thought.

I don't know if you can see, but this is my king size bed. If you look you will see 3 kids. And some how I woke up in the morning to find this site. Some how I fit on the edge. So, life with Chad in Denver and me here has been ok. At first it was liberating and I came and went as I wanted. Since I work and the kids in school, it hasn't been too over whelming. I have been taking that parenting class and have really had a good time putting every thing into practice. So, my biggest trial now is missing having my friend Chad around. I almost miss him:)

New Adventures

Everyy time I look at my blog I get embarrassed about the same post that has been there for so long. So for the 3 of you who check to see if there is anything new, this is for you.

About 2 months ago, Chad got a call from a sweet lady in Denver saying she thought that she had found the perfect person for a job her company had. We drove down and enjoyed the city. Chad felt he blew the interview, so we just went back to the drawing board. A few days later he got a call and was offered the job. Because of the lack of work, our money situation was very tight and so I went to my

knees to figure a way to get Chad down and have a place to stay while he began his work. Elissa's good friend gave me the name of a wonderful Bishop and he and a family in Aurora have provided a place for Chad during his first month of work. Our house was put on the market right away and we may actually sell it in a few weeks. Chad also found a house for all of us in a town called Castle Rock, just south of Denver. He will move in next week and we will stay until school is out at the end of May.

Kyra has been so busy with dance and school that I hardly even see her. I remember being in 9th grade and thinking I was as grown up as I could get. I guess you could say I have been mourning the loss of my baby lately. My boys are busy, busy...with what? Making messes. I swear that is what they do best. Maybe they will grow up to be demolition experts!

I have been taking a Love and Logic class and my favorite thing to say to my kids lately is "your fighting is really draining my energy, " or "I love you too much to argue". I have decided that I am not the only person in my family fighting for control and so yesterday I gave Walker about 900 choices to make..."do you want to take your clothes down stairs in the basket or are you going to carry them in your arms? Do you want to a fruit or a veggie? Would you like peaches or pears? Do you want to sit next to me or stop farting?" I am loving the love and logic class. The only thing I am having a hard time with is setting them up for failure...because I suck at follow through. For example, I want to go to town, so I say "Boys, if you want to go to town, then you need to get the living room clean." Well, the living room is still not clean and I did take them to town. Ahhh, this is going to be a tough one. I still love ".....is really draining my energy".

The month of March is always so hard to get through because of the snow. Right when you think its spring, here comes more snow. Damn snow...

So far, its been summer...

Well, to all 4 of you who check up with my blog... this summer started great. Sort of. With my mom having had heart surgery and things went bad, she stayed in the hospital from the 26th of March to May 19th. (In Boston) Then she was transferred to Sunnyview Rehab hospital in Schenectady for another month.

Meanwhile, my dad's dad passed away a few days before mom's surgery, so he had to fly to Utah while mom was knocking on deaths door. It has all been very hard for him. During his talk at grandpa's funeral, he told about how grandpa Wood took care of a sick grama, and grandma Taylor took such good care of a sick grandpa...then he said, if Patty turns out like her mom and I turn out like my dad...we are in real trouble!!! Elissa and I laughed out loud... I don't know if any one else thought it was funny:)

It was a family reunion ... almost every one was there. It was so good to see every one together... maybe for the last time ever.

So, with mom so sick, and Beck, Kevin and Dad tapped with mom's illness, I got a good deal on ticket and took all 4 boys and a "nanny" to New York - HOME - for the month of June. This is Mom a day after getting out of Sunnyview Hospital. We went to visit her parents grave. It was beautiful at the Chuctinunda Cemetary near Amsterdam. She couldn't get out and walk yet, but I planted some flowers while she watched.

While in New York, we got to visit the Atlantic Ocean and go see Plymouth rock. The kids loved the water and had a great time playing in it.

The boys also got to know their grandma and grandpa better. They learned what fire flies are and Hunter always felt like there was something hiding in that thick foliage in the back yard. We ate soft ice cream, listened to big thunder storms and met new friends at church. The boys caught snakes and frogs. Hunter got to mow the yard with a push mower! Walker never felt to loved as when he met his Uncles and they all said HE BELONGED to the Wood family. I got to visit NYC and went to play in Saratoga several times. Friendly's, Chuck E. Cheese and Red Robin with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Becky along with Sunday family dinners. There was an OCD grandma who couldn't walk very well, a grumpy grandpa who kept apologizing for being that way, an Uncle Kevin who took the job of stand in dad very seriously (thank you) and a babysitter who couldn't WAIT to get home to her boyfriend...the trip home is for another blog:)

I got home in time to see Kyra in the 4th of July parade. She is a Brave Cadette...dance team. I am sooo proud of her.

Chad also lost his job in June and so....that is why "so far, its been summer".

Wish us luck...and prayers wont hurt either.

School starts in a week...good luck kids!

By Request...

Spring in Star Valley... I started sending pictures of our late snow storms to my family at the end of February. Now that it is the end of April, not only am I sick of the snow, my family is sick of getting text pictures of snow that says "can I come to Florida?" or "yep, that's today...". Every time it snows again I think to my self that it can only last for the day and it will be melted by lunch. Any other possitive ideas I can tell my self???

Around Christmas I started smelling something dead in my office, and could never get rid of it or even find where it was comming from. I thought I was stuck with it in the wall until summer...

Chad was upgrading my memory the other day and just about screamed like a girl when he saw this. It was definately a process to get it out. If the mouse was stuck when it was alive, you can imagine how stuck it still was now!!

A fun week!

Chad and his friend decided to skip the butcher and brought the pig home to chop up...and yes, they shot it there in the drive way. Some days I think I am turning into a hick...but this day, our friend Andrew called me a city girl for my reaction to the event...THANK YOU ANDREW!!!!!!

Pinewood Derby night! Hunter and Taylor had such a good time. They both received awards for place and how the car looked.

Taylor's first pinewood derby and he walked out with 2 trophies and a second place finish!

I took Kyra and 3 friends to Idaho Falls (that's a two hour drive) for the midnight release of "Twilight"!

The crowds at Wal-mart were amazing...I hate to admit I am as crazy as them...

So, off we went, back home at 12:30 a.m. watching the movie on the way...

It didn't take long before...they were all fast asleep!

This is Jared, my little brother-in-law. (Chad's dad's son) He is a junior this year and their prom was last night! His girlfriend's name is Kayli and is a beauty queen!

On this prom night, I experienced something as strange as I have ever seen (and you all know I have traveled and seen many, many strange things). In this small valley, on prom night, at 10:00 p.m., there is something called promenade. Right in the middle of the dance, in the high school gym, the towns people start arriving and sitting in the bleachers. They sit and watch. Then at about 10:15 the kids who would like to be "promenaded" are presented to the town and do a choreographed ballroom style dance for the watching crowd. Then the prom court is introduced and then they all go back on to the court/dance floor and continue the dance...and the towns people/families either leave or go take a few pictures or talk to the kids. And the dance ends at 11:30 so that all the kids can be home before midnight, Sunday morning.

Taylor's Month

Finally, I am going to actually sit down and post a new entry! This past month has been fun. Taylor was baptized and wouldn't you know...my camera battery is dead. These pictures are taken with my phone:)

We had the Parker family and Chad's brother and his wife there for the event. Since I was hands free from this event, after the baptism, Taylor come out for the confirmation in hair combed strait down his head, with sides all askew....white tennis shoes and shirt untucked...oh well, I love him just the same. I got to give the talk on confirmation and the holy ghost, and so I was glad to be able to look him in the eye, and bare my own testimony to him about the gospel. I don't do it enough.

Taylor also went to the eye doctor, and found that he is just slightly far sighted, so he gets to have glasses. He's the only one in our family to have glasses, so all the boys can't wait for their turn at the eye doctor in hopes to get their own!

Taylor picked these out all on his own. There was a wall worth of choices, and these (although he wanted black) were the choice:) He is my boy who loves art, music, and is very picky about the clothes he wears. I see Taylor as super artistic, and these glasses, as an expression of his individualism. He loves the spotlight, and revels in attention on one hand and on the other is quiet, observant and slow to share his thoughts. Taylor, I can't wait to see who you become, because who you are amazes me.

He went straight home and tried them out. I have been asking how they work and he says "the words are bigger." Oh, and my face is bigger...I am so glad that they work!