WE HAVE A HOUSE!!! (and other interesting tidbits to get you up to date)

It is official, we have moved into the townhome we are renting. We have the storage unit emptied out and I had Nathan put everything in the garage. So I still have boxes all over the garage but we are in! The boys and I are excited to finally be up in Pinedale with Nathan, and Nate is super excited to have something to eat besides TV dinners when he gets home from work.

Let me backtrack a little now and start from when Emma came into our lives a little early.

We got moved out of Laramie the 22nd of April and got somewhat settled with Nate in Pinedale and the boys and I in Mountain View. We were not even here for 2 weeks when little miss Emma decided to join us early and it has been a whirlwind ever since.

May wasn’t too bad, just trying to adjust to a new place and a few surprises. Emma came 3 ½ weeks early in the middle of the night. She came so fast that Nate didn’t even make it to the hospital in time to see her be born. I did have dad drive me in to Evanston and he stayed with me until Nate got there. Emma was having a hard time breathing because she was so early, so they put her on oxygen and she also had to have some antibiotics through an IV. We had to stay an extra day in the hospital because of the IV and we were sooooo ready to go when we got out. We had only been back in Mtn. View for about 30 minutes when Emma surprised us again and stopped breathing. We were headed downstairs to clean a little bit and feed Emma. I had to use the bathroom and Nate was burping Emma before we went down (she was being a little fussy). When I came out of the bathroom I asked Nate if he was ready to go down and he yelled to me that Emma had stopped breathing. I ran over and he had her face down and pounding on her back. He said she had burped/spit up and then inhaled before he could clean her mouth down. She did this 2 times. So I took her and Nate went to get her little blue bulb to suck out her throat. He got out a little but by that time she was not responding and was starting to turn purple. I yelled at Nate to call 911. He did and started explaining things to the operator. As he was talking on the phone Emma finally started to respond and took a few short breaths. By the time the ambulance showed up she was breathing better but still not very good. Emma and I both got our first ambulance ride to the hospital. When we got there they took her vitals and started to monitor her breathing and heart rate. The doctor had us get some x-rays to make sure she was ok and let us make the decision to stay or go after he said everything was ok. We decided to go back to Mtn. View and keep a very close eye on things. The rest of May was good. It was hard to take care of Emma by myself at night but I had mom and dad who helped with the kids during the day, which I am very grateful for.

Emma, Payton, and Cameron watching cartoons at Grandma Walker's house

We also did some traveling during May. The first weekend we got back from the hospital was pretty low key. The second weekend I traveled up to Pinedale to see Nate and do Payton’s kindergarten screening. Payton is super excited to be going to school and is sad he can’t go yet. The third weekend we traveled to Laramie to see some friends and let everyone see Emma. We stayed with Olivia in her new apartment and had a good time visiting. The last weekend was Memorial Day weekend and we stayed in Mtn. View and enjoyed family.

June was just as busy as May. I’ll sum it up a little more though. We had Olivia’s bridal shower on the 3rd, her wedding in Logan on the 10th, and her reception in MV on the 17th.

All of the siblings (except Devin) and our new brother in law Evan. For some reason we never seem to have a picture of us all together that is not silly!

Our cute little family at the Logan temple. Liv's colors were red, black, and white. Emma was not happy being out of her blanket.

The girl grandkids at Liv's reception in Mountain View. Lexie and Zaylee on the chairs. Hallie holding Emma, and Madison holding Kyri.

Me and my baby girl.

Emma all tuckered out from the reception.

We got to stay with Nate’s brother Jeff while in Logan and had a fun time visiting with them! Cameron had a little mishap while we were there. He was outside running around with his cousins and tripped over an uneven spot on the sidewalk. Instead of catching himself with his hands he landed face first on the bone right above his eye. It immediately swelled up and was black and blue for weeks.

Cameron's black eye.

The last week/weekend of June my parents went on mom’s twisted sister trip to Boston/Cape Cod area. I didn’t really want to be all by myself with the 3 kids so we came up to Pinedale with Nate. We explored the parks and library and Nate took the boys golfing.

We were able to move into our townhome on the first of July. So on Friday I spent most of the day moving things from Nate’s 1 bedroom he was staying in over to our new place. We had one of Nate’s coworkers help us get our beds from the storage units that night. I was so happy to have my own bed again! Saturday morning we headed for MV for our niece Madison’s baptism. She looked beautiful in her white dress and baptism suit. We are so proud of her and the decision she made to get baptized.

Emma and Madison in their white dresses. Such cute ladies.

On Sunday we blessed Emma. We weren’t sure if many of our family were going to make it because it was the holiday weekend, but we had a good turnout. Byron and his family and Jared and his family came from Laramie, Alma and his family and Nate’s parents from Green River, and Misty from Orem.

We also had all of my siblings except Chantel and her family (they were with Michael’s fam in Lovell were Channy got to meet his sister for the first time, so I totally understand!). The blessing was good and had some good food and conversation afterwards. We are so blessed to have such a great family to support us! On the 4th we had a cookout and I got to see a bunch of my cousins who I haven’t seen for a long time since we are so spread out now (from Arizona to Montana). Then we traveled back and started getting our house unpacked. The next weekend I traveled back to MV/Evanston for my cousin Stormy’s wedding. She looked so pretty and I am glad I got to come down. Emma’s 2 month checkup was the at the beginning of the next week along with the Nate’s family reunion, so I just stayed in MV instead of going back up to Pinedale. Emma is starting to grow; she weighed in at 10 lbs 3 oz and was 22 inches at her 2 month checkup. She still has most of her hair, although she is getting the traditional bald spot in the back.

Alma and Candace were in charge of the reunion this year so we went camping in the mountains above Cokeville, WY. Everyone was there this year except for Ryan who was at scout camp.

All of the Killpack cousins except for Ryan, Travyn, and Emma

Back : Joseph, Sarah, Conner, Abby holding Lilly, Erika, Nicole, Kaleb, Braden, Christopher, Kate

Front: Samuel, Cameron, Spencer, Jacksen, Kinley, Tallie, Brydnn, Payton

We were able to borrow Grandpa Walker’s trailer which was a blessing because if we hadn’t we probably wouldn’t have stayed the whole time with Emma being so small still. We had a fun time talking, riding four-wheelers, playing tug of war, etc.

Dinner time! Nathan, Kaleb, Conner, Erika, and Jeff Wilson getting some grub. Me, Emma, and Jared sitting around the camp fire.

For the tug of war it was the younger brothers against the older brothers. The young guys won. Then it was the older spouses against the younger spouses (Misty was on our team since Danielle was pregnant). The older gals won.

Jared, Joe, Nathan, and Jeff beating the older brothers at tug of war.

Then it was the younger couples against the older couples. The first tug went to the olders, the second tug to the youngers, and the third tug the rope broke in half! I was in the front on our side and the rope came back and whiplashed across my hands. I thought for a second that I might have broke something, but thankfully didn’t. My knuckles and hand were swollen that night and bruised for a few days afterwards.

Jared, Joe, Barbara, Nate, Me, and Emma Sitting in the shade hanging out

Payton and Brydnn playing in the water at Big Spring

Nathan celebrated his 30th birthday this year! We traveled back from the reunion and cleaned out the trailer so we didn’t do much to celebrate it (and I feel real bad about it). Devin’s birthday is the same day as Nate’s and his wife Amy threw a real cute birthday party for him at mom and dad’s. She used glass jars and movies (2 of his trademarks) and he grilled some really yummy food. We did sing happy birthday to Nate there, so he at least got a song. I’m still trying to come up with something for him though.

The third weekend of July we traveled back to MV again for the Ronald Walker reunion. We got there just as they were starting the mini-Amazing Race. I had to go in and feed Emma but Nate took the boys around with some of the teams. They got to do a football toss, a golf ladder toss, fishing, finding the white buffalo ( a family tradition), and a couple other things I can’t remember. It was fun to see my cousins, some of which I don’t get to see often at all. Then Saturday morning was the 24th/Pioneer days triathlon in Lyman which some people did. David, Ashley, and Tammy all did the race by themselves! Chantel (runner), Michael (swimmer), and Jordan (biker) were on a team, and Nate was on a team with Sallee (runner) and Neal (biker). He was the swimmer and did alright for only swimming once that week before the race. They all had a good time.

Ashley, Tammy, Neal, Jordan, David, Chantel, Michael, Sallee, Nate (and little Izzy on the side)

After the race we had breakfast and then headed back over to Lyman for the parade. The boys had a good time and got some candy. We came back to Pinedale that night so we could go to church here and see our new ward. It is huge by the way. There were around 60 women in relief society and that is apparently normal.

This month has started out pretty good. I got a part time job deep cleaning apartments between renters. I have done 2 apartments so far. It is nice because I clean at nights after Nathan gets home from work and it is relaxing to get out of the house without the kids. I know it is weird for me to say that cleaning is relaxing since I struggle with it, but it has been a big help. Since we were so busy in July I am still unpacking boxes and trying to get our house organized and our family settled. Sometimes I stress about it and Nate has to keep reminding me that it doesn’t have to be done all at once. I am grateful for his support and help, and for him to remind me to stay sane!

I know this was long, but I think we are all caught up now! More to come soon!