Some of my favorite Jaten Family photos

We had some family pics taken when we had a little reunion last month and we got them back last week... so here are a few I liked from the bunch.

Long time, no blog!

It's been a while since I last blogged. It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about, just that things have been busy. I started my new job over 2 weeks ago and am enjoying it. It is much busier to work in the hospital than the VA (being an outpatient clinic). I have been so homesick for the VA. I miss the people, the job, the veterans, and the schedule. I knew I would before we left Alaska, but never knew it would be this hard. I sent an email to my boss and a co-worker at the VA and they said I just got a promotion (as I am still technically working there as an intermittent RN). They next told me there is a full time position they just opened up in their surgery dept (something I was hoping would happen, so we could have justified staying in AK) . I could have cried. Seriously. After swallowing some sadness I decided I just needed to adjust my attitude and be grateful for the job I do have here in Arizona. It is a great job, it's just hard when you love everyone you used to work with. I have been working days, but it will be changing to nights in a month. And so will my pay by 20%. Got to love shift differential!

Kyson is growing like a weed. He is eating so much more now and you can feel it when you pick him up. I'm sure his weight stats have caught up now. He is a happy boy and is loving the christmas decorations. We have been taking him to the park by my parents house and he has been loving being outside (as are we) to putt around with his plastic golf putter. He still amazes us with how fast he learns and how smart he seems. People often ask how old he is and state he is very mature and smart for his age. I agree. We are still waiting on our offer for a short sale home. It should be coming back sometime soon and we are hopeful they will accept our offer. It really has stood out above all homes we have looked at and although it was one of few we looked at without a pool, we will be putting a pool in.
All in all, we are still absolutely loving the weather and things to do in Arizona. It's been fun to be closer to my side of the family. Although, Ken is pretty homesick for his family (as are they for us). His mom and sister are going to come visit in 20 days for 10 days, so we are excited to have them down and "sell them on AZ!"

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I also wanted to say that I am so thankful to have wonderful friends, family, a home, my health, my work, my husband, my baby, and weather! I couldn't be more blessed in my life.

Jaten Family Reunion

Our family all work different schedules and with the holidays always being a busy season, we decided to beat the holidays with a "pre-thanksgiving" reunion with all of the Jatens. We had a full house at my parents, where Ken, Kyson and myself are staying as well until we close on a home down here. It made for a fun week. Some fun things we did were hike Camelback mountain, eat out, watch some videos, make an early thanksgiving meal, take some new professional family photos, and just hang out like old times. It's been a while since we all have been together and able to just relax and talk in person. Here are a few photos of our week together. I really miss my sisters! Feel free to join the rest of the fam in Arizona!

A nice steep climb... thus the grab bar.

We made it to the top! It was not so easy for me... I am so out of shape!The view from what they were looking at in above pic.Cute pose Renee and Jonathan!Some pics I took while we were taking turns getting our professional photos taken.

This pose is at least a little better!

Ken and my brother, Isaac.
Rachel teaching Kyson to do something he shouldn't be.

My mom with her newest grandson- Cade.

When our professional pics come in- I will try to remember to load more on here.

Halloween Festivities and other randomness

A little late... but when we were in Spokane we went to Greenbluff and I thought I had loaded a few of these pics but apparently not--

For Halloween we took Kyson trick or treating to about 20 houses in my parents neighborhood. He was a Dinosaur (thanks to my sister-in-law Ashley). Everyone loved his costume! I have never in my life seen such a community of neighbors come together. It was really neat. Several people were sitting on their driveways- several got together with other neighbors and were watching a game and those houses we would have 5 bowls of candy to get treats from. Other neighbors had portable fire pits in their driveway. Ken and I both were commenting on how we have never seen such a community, especially nowadays!

These pics say it all...

Got Rice? He cannot get enough!

And, as much as an extra hour of sleep would have been nice- I love that Arizona doesn't do the daylight savings thing!

Our move to Arizona

So we are settling in comfortably to Arizona life. Last night went to Olive Garden for the first time in 3 years. Went to Trader Joes after that. It's amazing to know how much stuff we were missing out on in Alaska. We are easing into the heat. So far it's been wonderful- never getting more than 90- which is perfect for me!

Our drive down went well. No flat tires. We did almost run out of gas once- but luckily had a 5 gallon gas can to refill enough to get us to the next town. We saw 12 Caribou, 2 goats, 8 Dall Sheep, 9 Bison, about 150 Deer, a Red Fox, and a Coyote. It was really neat. We did about 650 miles each day (averaging 11-13 drives each day). Stayed in Haines Junction, Fort Nelson, Edmonton (and went to Edmonton Mall), Spokane, Boise, and lastly Las Vegas. Got to see lots of family and a few friends along the way- which was great as it had been too long since I had been through Spokane!

Overall... I am happy the drive is over. I don't know how much more Baby Einstein I could take, although I must say if you have a little one- it's a life saver for long drives- as it takes their attention off of being stuck in their car seat. We are loving time with my family and I am preparing for my first in-person job interview for a local hospital in their surgery dept Tuesday.

Life is wonderful!

Saying goodbye to Nhep family with dinner at Benihana's

"How many miles did you say I was going to be in this seat?"

Banff, Alberta

One of my Spokane favorites... Greenbluff. They had a hay maze, sand box full of dried peas, a tractor ride taking you through the apple orchards, pumkin patches, a petting zoo, and as many apples as anyone could ever want to buy or eat! Kyson did not want to ever leave the pea box!Visiting some family on my mom's side- two aunts, and uncle, sister, cousin, and my grandmother.My friend Gen's son Wyatt and Kyson- only 4 months apart! A really pretty lobby in some hotel in Vegas.
The Venetian Hotel in Vegas.The Belagio Hotel in Vegas... Kyson (as well and Ken and I) loved the light/water show!
More of the Venetian with one sleepy baby.

We made it to AZ

I will post pics and more happenings soon... but just wanted to let people know we made it the 3800 mile journey safely! Thank Goodness!!!

Fall colors...

Although I typically dread fall (only because it represents the end of summer and the start of winter), I do love the colors of fall. We recently took a walk down to Taku lake (it's a 3 minute walk from our front door) and enjoyed the changing colors! We saw 4 moose- two of which were literally charging people (which I have only seen one other time (when one was charging a few of us hiking). So we couldn't do our full lap around the lake- rather just an out and back. Kind of hard to see in this pic- but there are two moose getting ready charge...

This is just a funny pic showing how badly Kyson needs a haircut. We are getting things packed up and bought a 5x8 foot enclosed trailer yesterday. Our motto is- if it doesn't fit, we are getting rid of it. It will be nice to de-clutter even more.. although a lot of work as well. We have also booked hotels for our ride down. We are planning to leave Oct 12th and hope to arrive to Mesa by the 20th. We are planning to stay 2 nights near West Edmonton Mall (Ken loves malls for some reason- maybe because the gym he worked at for 10 years was in a mall). We are going to drive through and stay in Spokane, Boise, and Vegas as well-- so for friends and family in the area... we would love to see you!

I guess that is all for now... more to come...