Just When You Were Sure it Would NEVER Happen...

Okay, I was going to say that I must be the worst blogger out there, but it turns out after looking through so many other blogs a few moment ago... lets just say there wasn't much reading to do... BUT that makes me feel much better. Let me be your inspiration! Haha! Cause seriously, this is not going to be all that long cause I could either stay up for another couple of hours going into detail about the last 5 months or I can write a short summary and then go read my book- Mockingjay- the last book in the hunger games series. NOT that I am choosing a book over writing in my blog- I mean, I AM doing it now, right? But we must balance our lives...
So with out further adu-
Life is Abu Dhabi is good. I don't like big city traffic. I DO like our home in "Sas Al Nakheel". It is a three bedroom villa in a big compound- over 500 other people live here. There is a community swimming pool, a little grocery store so that I don't have to drive 15 minutes to buy milk, and even a dry cleaners, a spa, a coffee shop, a pharmacy, and a barber. Our place is a three bedroom and we had a good time furnishing it entirely- from large to small appliances, to furniture and beds, to the light fixtures. This week we changed our sand dunes, weeds and garbage in our back yard into some grass- yet with it still being hot I haven't done much more than look at it. But we have gotten our shipment from the states, so it is starting to feel like home. Just need to put up our projector and we can stay.
The summer was awesome for me and sucked for Brian. I went back to the States in June and stayed until the end of August. Brian didn't come until the second week of August, so if you ask him how his summer was he will start the long, sad story of how I abandon him and had fun without him and how miserable he was. I know, I should feel guilty, but I wont be leaving him again for another 10 months.
So in June I flew 22 hours to Wisconsin with just me and the three boys. All the praying that was going on paid off and the kids did AMAZING. Then we spent a week with my sister in the cheese state and had a great time. They live in this little neighborhood in Shell Lake and the lake is a block away. We went on their boat, ate bratwursts, ate the best fudge I've ever tasted, froze at Lake Superior, and spend a little time in Duluth. The best part was spending time with my sister and her family that I only get to see once or twice a year.
My next stop was Caldwell to stay with my mom and dad through the summer. The boys loved seeing their grandparents, cousins and friends again (as did I) and we had a great summer. I feel like I spent a great deal of my time getting ready to go back to Abu Dhabi. I kept worrying that I would leave the States and think, "Darn, I should have brought *such and such* with me! Dang!" I also downsized our storage unit and had my fifth yard sale in a little over a year. Now all of our belongings left in the states fits in an 5 x 8 storage unit. I figured the stuff we had wasn't worth spending $850 a year for three or more years!
We did, however, get to go to the Oregon coast with my entire family (minus Brian). It was a great reunion and the weather was amazing. The kids all got along and camped in the tents well. Good times and good memories!
When Brian got in started our tour of Idaho by visiting his parents in Idaho Falls. Poor Brian, though, he spent most of the time sick in their basement. Brian's dad has cancer, so we were glad we got to see him. But with Brian being sick, and his dad in pain and just starting radiation, their wasn't too much action. We did get to see a lot of cousins though! The week before I also made my first trip by myself (with the boys) to Idaho Falls- I'd never driven that far before. We were able to see ALL of Brian's family except his younger sister. Now that I am writing this summary I'm starting to feel a little more bad for poor Brain...
After IF we went through Montana and camped two nights just south of Butte. We just started traveling and hoped we'd find a spot. We did and it turned out great. We then went to Coeur D'alene and dropped in unannounced on some old friends. We weren't going to stay over night, but we just enjoyed seeing them so much that we gave in. I was able to go with my friend to the Spokane Washington Temple and then we just enjoyed chattting. We then made it to Moscow and again, had a great time seeing so many of our friends. We miss all of them! We went to church with the ward we used to belong to, and then went to the Hills afterward. We ended up having dinner at the park with the Radels, and we were going to go on, but again, enjoyed the company so much, we stayed at their place that night. Okay, this is getting long- so we camped outside New Meadows the next night then got back to Caldwell and spent the last few days packing up our freight shipping, and then our 8 50lb boxes to take on the plane.
Now back in Abu Dhabi, Ashton has started school! He loves it, but I think he is exhausted. The school is supposed to be only 10 minutes away, but it's not done yet, so they are having school at the old campus for another few weeks. So he has to catch the bus at 6:35 in the morning because it takes an hour for the bus to get to school. Then kindergarden here is all day, so class gets out at 2:45 and he gets home and hour later. I was taking him for the first few days, but with the other boys having to get up to come with me, then having all of us spend a total of two hours in the car everyday, in traffic. We will just be VERY HAPPY when the new school is done.

Okay, I could probably write more, but like I said- this is getting long. Maybe, just maybe, I will write again in less than 5 months. I would like to, and put pictures! I'll put in more effort... I promise!!!.... Now, time for that book...