Car Shopping

Today we went shopping for a new car for Ryan. We decided to leave our Honda Accord we'd driven since before Braden was born in Ohio. Because this was a momentous occasion, we all decided to tag along in case our opinion was needed. Braden and Emmry were perfectly happy. They cared little about the car, but as we did not yet have cable and they had been deprived of television for a week, they were more than happy to watch cartoons in the children's lobby. Unfortunately, the babies could not be so easily entertained. After an hour of coloring, taking walks through the show room, and playing in the drinking fountain, they decided the dealership was boring and thought they'd spice things up a bit. The shirts were the first to go. I fought them at first, but seeing I was outnumbered, decided a shirtless baby could be forgiven. But when the pants started coming off, I decided an unclothed baby could not. Thankfully, as we were on our way out, Ryan was on his way in. I don't know if it was the look in my eye or the two naked babies I was dragging, but somehow he got the picture that we were at the end of our car shopping experience for today.

Dad's Homecoming

Ryan flew into Utah last Saturday, officially completing our move from Ohio. We were thrilled to have him back with us and he showed his value right away. That night, Emmry was suprised to find a baby quail in the garage. It could have only just hatched and must have lost its way from its mother. Braden quickly stepped in as its protector and guardian. Despite the consistent pleas to keep the quail, we convinced the kids they needed to return it to its mother. But where that was we were not sure, so we advised the kids to put the bird in the bushes. It did not matter how far away the the kids went though, the quail always followed them back, trotting behind them. Ryan, in his great sympathy knowing the bird would not survive the night alone, put the poor bird out of its misery, unbeknownst to any of the rest of us.

Monday, we celebrated Ryan's return with a trip to Lagoon, Utah's local amusement park. I must say, I think it was a successful trip. We spent too much money, walked way too much, ate too much junk food, and Ryan and I were both motion sick when we left. The kids of coarse, couldn't wait to go back!

Tuesday we packed up the car and headed for the last leg of our trip, Arizona. Perspective is a very interesting thing. If ever you want your kids to be thrilled with a 12 hour drive, take a 30 hour drive first. Emmry couldn't believe we would only have to drive for one day and that we would sleep in our own beds that night.

Of coarse a Huffman road trip wouldn't be the same without someone throwing up. Chloe made it all the way to the Utah boarder before she could take it no longer. Luckily, we have learned fruit snacks smell good whether going down or up.

Now that we have completed our move and have been Arizonans for a few days, we've learned some valuable lessons: don't touch a prickly pear cactus; don't go barefoot outside; don't buy chocolate chips and leave them in the car (though the chocolate chunk cookies turned out pretty good); a shady parking spot is well worth the walk; and heat is a great motivator for getting up early to exercise.

In Limbo In Utah

Being in limbo between homes can get a bit old, except when it becomes an extended vacation. Our time between homes has been a month. Ryan has been staying with friends in Cleveland while he finishes up his residency and I have been in Utah entertaining the kids. I thought life would calm down after packing up and leaving our home in Ohio, but if visiting family and friends, and attending events such as a homecoming, birthday parties, and a wedding, didn’t keep me busy enough, being a single parent of four did. We tried to make every moment in Utah count though, since we so infrequently get to be with family.

Braden always enjoys visiting Utah. For him, it means staying up late, getting up early, and participating in one of his favorite passions... playing video games. Braden has become quite skilled at Grammy and Papa J's Wii, setting nearly every possible record. He was also able to work on another of his passions, climbing. Braden enjoys the challenge of seeing how high he can climb to the top of nearly anything. He'll climb trees, swing posts, and even light posts. This despite his fear of heights. His last passion was also fed. Braden has recently developed a great passion for animals. His three-year-old dream of growing up to be a “tree cutter-downer” has been replaced many times over by now, most recently with the desire to become a veterinarian. Fortunately for him, Aunt Maggie arranged for a visit to a friend's farm with horses and chickens, and her sister-in-law's new puppies. Braden has waited quite patiently to get a dog, and I guess we're all out of excuses now... oh, except our rental won't let us have pets!

The highlight of Emmry’s visit was the wedding and all the preparations for it. She took her first trip to the salon with me and Grammy to get her nails painted to match her dress. The color? Pretty Pink of course. She loved getting to dress in a fancy pink dress with her cousins and be a flower girl at her Uncle Brian’s wedding. Though she was utterly disappointed when she learned she would not be throwing flower pedals, she was somewhat appeased when her new aunt gave her the task of carrying her train. Emmry has since been making plans for her own wedding. She will have nine flower girls. Some will blow bubbles, but some will definitely throw flower pedals. Her groom will be Calvin, a friend from Ohio now living in Utah. But she tells me there is one problem: Calvin doesn’t like to kiss or hug. She had the chance to remedy this at a two day sleepover, but it seems that they mostly played dog and cat, and tea party. I told her not to worry, that any boy that will play tea party is worth waiting for.

The babies I toted from place to place, some of more interest to them than others. They are good sports though and found their own entertainment when the event did not suit them. For example, at Boondocks when the older kids were miniature golfing, the babies were taking off their shirts. I solved that problem with duct tape. When the older kids were driving go-carts, the babies were taking off their shoes. I solved that problem with duct tape. When the older kids were driving water boats, the babies were trying to take off their diapers. I've been through a lot of duct tape.

The Buzz game was a highlight of the trip. Braden and Emme settled right in with their cousins, did little watching, plenty of eating, and a lot of laughing. Hadley and Chloe didn’t find the game quite as interesting, but found much interest in the concrete floor and what had been dropped onto it. By the end of the game, well the end for me, the girls were shirtless lying on the ground which was covered with who knows what. They had eaten a huge amount of licorice, cotton candy, popcorn, soda, and I’m not sure how many cheese crackers they had found on the ground. About the 7th inning I decided their stomachs and my nerves could handle no more and we called it a night.

The highlight of our limbo in Utah for me was my trip back to Cleveland for Ryan’s graduation dinner. I was unsure how I would feel returning “home.” I worried that the tears that were not shed earlier, would come. But they didn’t. Instead, I felt like a visitor in the place I had only just left and had called home for four years. Everything seemed oddly familiar in a distant way. Surreal, I guess. Our home had stood empty for several weeks, was overgrown, and strangely did not feel like ours. It was wonderful to see the familiar, neighbors and friends, and return to the Clinic for Ryan’s graduation dinner. Ryan will join us tomorrow and we will be back together as a family. Braden says he hardly remembers him (tongue and check), Emmry cries for him, and the babies say “dah” every time the phone rings. I simply miss him.

Graduation

Last Saturday Ryan and I, and his mother Ellen, were able to celebrate an event 13 plus years in the making. Ellen and I boarded a plane Saturday morning bound for Cleveland and for Ryan's graduation from residency. It was a wonderful moment to celebrate his accomplishments, or more accurately, our accomplishments. Ryan and I met nearly 15 years ago and during that time at least one of us has been in school or training. With this graduation, our educational goals we made so long ago are finally completed. It has been a long road, but we are so happy to have both received an education in something we love. Ryan expressed to me that he was a little disappointed we were finally done and wondered what goal we were now going to look forward to. I told him retirement!

Westward Ho!

At 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 23rd, we pulled out of our driveway at 3686 Lytle Road and said goodbye to Shaker Heights, Ohio. We had a deadline to meet as we needed to be in Utah by Sunday morning to hear my brother speak in church. We were therefore determined to drive straight through with only making necessary stops. With a family of six we expected these stops would be frequent, but we didn't expect one just five minutes into our trip. It seems that a nail had embedded itself in our tire which halted our journey just five minutes from home at our local Sears. Thirty minutes later, with our first obstacle overcome, we headed toward sunnier skies (literally).

It wasn't until after dinner that our second obstacle presented itself. With the babies already filthy, I went looking for their pajamas in the back of the van. It was then we discovered that their suitcase, full of all their clothes and shoes, had been left at home on their changing table.

Obstacle three came along when Braden decided to pull out the new video game system we purchased for the trip. Unfortunately, we had left two very vital pieces of the system at home in the box. Up until then I had been in denial, but it was at that moment that I thought that this was going to be a very long trip. Thankfully though Walmart happened along, and we quickly remedied obstacle three.

With the kids asleep, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska passed much quicker. Ryan and I switched off driving through the night and by morning were closing in on Wyoming. Our last leg was fairly uneventful. We had a bit of snow, hail and wind in Wyoming, and only one stomach emptied into a carseat. By early evening we drove into Green River, Wyoming to visit my sister's family.

It was quite surreal driving down Parley's Canyon on our way into the Salt Lake Valley. Ryan and I made that journey nearly eight years ago, just in the other direction. We were leaving for medical school, loaded up with our belongings and Braden who was just 18-months-old, moving to Virginia. We were excited and a bit nervous about living on the east coast, going to medical school, and buying our first home. Now, as we now journeyed back with a few more belongings, four children, another move, medical school and residency behind us, we commented on how different we were. I don't know if our past selves would have believed what we had accomplished or who we had become had the past and present selves passed in the canyon. What a ride it's been... and we are very grateful for it!

Moving West

Ryan graduates from his residency at the Cleveland Clinic next month. It has been a long and wonderful journey, and we've loved living in the eastern part of the country for the past eight years. Last fall when considering job opportunities, it became apparent that we would be moving west... closer to home. Though not first a consideration, Valley Anesthesia in Phoenix, Arizona became one of our top options. After a bit of praying, the heat, lack of seasons, and desert landscape seemed insignificant obstacles. Ryan accepted a position in the North Scottsdale area and is excited to be joining such a wonderful, well-established group.

Never having visited Arizona, you can imagine I was a bit tentative to see where I would finally be settling down. So we held our breath as we boarded a plane in March to go take a look. Our journey started out a bit rocky. Due to mechanical problems, we sat on the runway in Cleveland for two hours. You can imagine our frustration, especially when we found out that our mechanical problem was a broken arm rest in first class. To make matters worse, the babies were traveling with us and Chloe threw up multiple times on the flight. What a blessing that one of our flight attendants just happened to be carrying along a bag of baby clothes to give to a friend in Phoenix! In the end, the trip ended up fruitful. We found a great area to live in with wonderful schools, a great ward, and plenty of kids. The trip home was thankfully much less eventful.

Packing up the house was a challenge with two 21-month-olds. In the past week they have dipped in the toilet a polly pocket, play phone, doll, pair of pants, toothbrush, Gameboy, and their blankets. I was not aware the blankets had taken the plung until they had been dragged all over our second floor carpet. It was very wet! They have also enjoyed climbing into the kitchen sink and I have seriously considered if we really need kitchen chairs. Their new facination is drawing on themselves. Luckily for them permanent markers seem to be everywhere around the house as we have been labeling boxes. Luckily for me, the facination has been contained to their bodies only. Lastly, Hadley and Chloe have thwarted nearly every last idea we have had to keep them dressed and diapered. We tried putting underwear over the diapers, making them wear onsies, and putting their diapers on backwards. We tried safety pinning their pajamas and jacket zippers. Yet, I continually find them half or completely naked every day. A favorite time seems to be when putting them down for a nap or down to bed. I think it is revenge. They know that by going to the bathroom in their beds, mom will come back and get them up. We think we have them this time though. Our new idea seems to be holding strong... ducktape!

Braden and Emme seem to be holding up well, though they will both miss their friends. Today at Emmry's school they had a "goodbye Emmry" day and Braden will spend the afternoon tomorrow launching water rockets with his class before we go. One of the most difficult things for Braden to leave behind is his beloved Perry the parakeet. Perry passed away, beak down in his empty water dish when Braden was six. He is buried in our backyard. Braden and Ryan went out tonight to exhume him for reburial in Arizona. Unfortuately, the marker was lost over time and they were unable to find him. May he rest in peace.

As we pull out tomorrow we leave behind wonderful friends and memories in Ohio, but we look forward to a new adventure. The kids and I will spend some time in Utah with family and friends before Ryan joins us and we begin this long awaited chapter of our lives in Arizona.

Black Belt

Braden reached a pivotal point in his Taekwondo training tonight. After nearly three years of training, Braden was invited to test for his black belt. He was visibly worried, but physically and mentally prepared. He performed 11 forms and four knife defences, sparred a third degree black belt, and broke boards with five different kicks and punches. He is the youngest at his training facility to receive the rank of First Dan (black belt) and we are very proud of him.

Braden is a bit in denial and continues to reiterate that he cannot believe he is a black belt. His belt is proof though and when we got home he pulled it out just to be sure. He has carefully cut the extra threads from where his name was embroidered on the belt, wrapped it in a sack, and plans to take it to school tomorrow to show his class.

One of Braden's requirements for his black belt was to write an essay on how Taekwondo has affected his life. We have included the essay. Way to go Braden!

I think taekwondo is a great martial art. When I was six I watched the movie “Karate Kid” and decided that I wanted to do a martial art. When I first started at Asian Sun, I went every day that I could. I loved class, especially when I was by myself because the teachers would teach me more advanced kicks. My favorite part about class was forms. I liked how they taught me to move like a martial artist. As I got better, I liked making up my own forms. My favorite part about class now is breaking. I think it’s fun to break the boards.

I was excited when Beachwood started a team. I liked going to the tournaments and wanted to work harder to get better. When I went to my first tournaments, I was so out of breath after sparring. They were very hard. But after joining team and training twice a week, it became much easier. In team we learned to work hard and listen to our coaches. I learned that I could do anything I wanted, even if it was very, very hard. A great example was when we would do “burn-outs” at the end of team. Running back and forth was very tiring and sometimes I wanted to stop. But, I didn’t and I know I can do it now. I noticed the difference at this last tournament I competed in. Because of my hard work, I was not so out of breath and I won the match.

When I move to Arizona, I will be on my way to becoming a great martial artist and I will have my black belt. I feel like I have accomplished a lot. I have become more flexible, stronger, smarter and confident. I have learned discipline, respect, and how to listen to others. I know these are things that will help me throughout my life. I will continue working hard in Arizona to reach my goal of competing in the Junior Olympics. I am grateful for my teachers and Asian Sun for helping me develop such wonderful skills and starting me on my way to become a great martial artist.