The move

Moving...procrastination...stress...cranky kids...sleepy/cranky mom...carefree dad.
I think that about sums it up.
Life was crazy. So crazy, I ended up turning to avoidance. You know, telling yourself, "if I pretend it's not happening, then maybe it's not happening." I don't think this mentality actually ended up helping anything, but you can't say I didn't try.
On the 18th we sent the boys off to daycare and spent our time at home packing up what we wanted to keep for ourselves for up to a year (possibly, but hopefully not that long) and cleaning/preparing for the movers who arrived on Thursday.
Thursday the movers came and went. We said farewell to our belongings and, prayed that it would be sooner rather than later before we see it all again. It's kinda funny how much we think we "need" our stuff. When Gunnar and Ryker came home from "school" Gunnar broke our hearts. Gunnar kept saying over and over, "my house is gone" or "my bed is gone." We explained it all went on a big truck, so periodically we hear him say "my house on a big truck." Poor kid, it was pretty hard on him.
On Friday my dad and I (so thankful for my dad coming over to help) pulled a small Uhaul trailer over to Priest River, Idaho and put our stuff in the garage so it is easily accessible to us over the next year. I stayed the night with Laura and the boys then got on a plane early Saturday afternoon with Ryker to fly back to Seattle to help with all the cleaning of our house for inspection the following Monday.

Sunday was crazy. We went to church then our kids went to the Schroeder house and spent the day with Kaytee. We then got busy at home after a little dinner to say goodbye to some of our great friends. I was completely overwhelmed and anything that could have gone wrong did. The dog ran through our screen in the door, which consequently broke, which consequently meant we would end up paying for it. Lowes and Home Depot had no replacement parts, but thankfully superglue worked for the inspection. Kyle also decided to help me clean the fridge by putting a drawer in the dishwasher to clean it...bad idea. It melted. I was able to get it back in the fridge and the not so nice inspection lady didn't notice. I know this sounds a little dishonest but we had a lady from the housing office (not a regular inspector) end up doing our inspection and she was trying to charge us for everything.  We ended up having to pay over $800 for new carpet and a mini-blind that had a little scuff mark on it, smaller than a dime size. Oh well, we try not to think about it. However we would have never been able to get all the cleaning and garbage throwing away done without the great assistance of some amazing people: Iona, Josh, Liz and of course my dad. What three awesome friends we have and one great dad. And, we can't forget the world's best babysitter Kaytee. Our boys adore her and there is no way we could have gotten everything done without her helping with the boys!
After doing some final running around on Monday, we got out of Fort Lewis around 1pm and headed to Eugene, OR to spend Christmas with Kyle's mom. While we forgot to pick up Kyle's discharge prescriptions we got everything else done. It felt good, a huge weight off our shoulders.
I should also mention that from Thursday night through Sunday night we all slept on the floor of our empty apartment. With our three dogs, it was just way to expensive to find a place to stay that would accommodate us....let's just say we should have coughed up the money. 
I will post later our Christmas adventures and time with my parents.
For those who don't know our plan, we decided to not rush finding a house, since we aren't sure where God wants us. So in the meantime while we pray, we will be going to to Priest Lake to a mobile home Kyle's dad has. While it isn't the most luxurious of places, it a free roof over our head and will give us time to regroup and figure life out a bit more without the stress of needing to hurry. We have all the time in the world now!
Some pictures of our little moving helpers:

Santa Pictures

It's that time of year again...Santa has come to town.
We are blessed to have a special connection with Mr. Claus. He is our former pastor who retired this past September. Even with the kids knowing him...Ryker still was not a fan. Oh well, Kyle and I found Ryker's ridiculous screaming quite humorous. My mom would say it's pay backs, because apparently I wasn't much of a fan of Santa pictures either. Gunnar has never cried with Santa before, while he was a little unsure, I think it was more all the people standing around, watching, and staring that made him more nervous than the man in the red suit.
So here they are...

 Check out Santa's website... http://www.northwestsanta.com/ I especially enjoy the section on "Where is Christ is Christmas?"

Thankful

November is a special month in which we are really reminded to think about all the things we are thankful for. This year I am especially thankful for family. The army allowing us to move from Germany to Fort Lewis to be closer to our family a little over a year ago served it's purpose well. Being closer to family has given us the support and often times assistance we need to get through it all.
This year we spent Thanksgiving with my family. It was an interesting time, but the food was delicious. On the day of Thanksgiving when we sat down to eat Gunnar started screaming and yelling that his ear hurt. I thought he was just tired and not wanting to eat so I put him in bed for his nap. He woke up and seemed ok. He said his ear hurt but he definitely wasn't screaming about it, he wanted to play. Then came dinner. Same story. He started screaming bloody murder. This time he would not allow anyone to touch him but me an there was no calming him down. He cried for at least 30 minutes. I called our on call doctor to get approval for taking him to the ER and we were off, he never cries like this.
Turned out one ear was really hurting. For my lack of doctor terminology I will explain it for the rest of us. He had the normal ear infection and then he had some bacteria growing in ear which was the main cause of the excruciating pain. So we were sent off to get ear drop and antibiotics. Once those got in him, he was dandy.
We got back to the house, got Gunnar in bed, then Kyle said he wanted to go black Friday shopping. We attempted and really didn't have a plan so it didn't work out to well. He did decide he wanted to sit outside of GameStop from 12am to 5am for a limited edition Nintendo 3DS...what a nerd. I went home to sleep during that time and ended spending most my night with an unhappy Ryker. Ryker loves his sleep so I knew something was up.
In the morning he was a BIG unhappy camper, so off to urgent care I went with him. He had an ear infection as well. The poor kid just had one a couple weeks ago.
That afternoon Laura and Caleb showed up to spend the next few days with us hanging out. Really that's just what we did. That night we left the boys with the Grandma, Nana, and Poppa and took Caleb to a hockey game. the Saturday we spent our time just hanging out and playing at the house with the five little boys, Ezra, Owen, Gunnar, Zane, and Ryker.

 Sunday was a very special day. For Christmas my parents (we won't be with them for Christmas this ear) got everyone tickets to ride the Polar Express so we drove down to Hood River, OR. The boys had a blast and loved seeing and riding on the train. We were all exhausted by the end, but had a great time. It was the perfect gift. After the train ride we drove back home to Fort Lewis.

Curve Ball

Today we were thrown a pretty big curve ball. We were told that there was no way Kyle would be exiting the Army until mid-February to early March and we have been planning our lives as such. Today we got the shocking news that we will be done in 17 days. We should have known better than to rely on the Army's timeline. SUPER. Guess this means we better decide like tonight what we are suppose to do with our lives from here. Come December 16th Kyle is no longer active duty. Prayers are appreciated, we are putting our trust in God.

Big Day

 So a while back on facebook I wrote that it was a big day in the Pettit house. A day that we had been waiting about a year and a half for. I then simply wrote that we were blessed and that I would write more about it in a blog later. Well, later has come and gone, and I still haven't sat down and filled everyone in...I guess simply because it isn't something that we normally talk about, it's personal (although I kinda blew that by posting about it on facebook), and some what embarrassing especially for Kyle. So I will attempt to do this tactfully, providing enough information to fill you in a bit, but not enough to embarrass Kyle.
I've heard a quote in the past that says "In war there are no unwounded soldiers." Jose Naroksy said it, I'm not exactly who he is other than a writer, but I think he is 100% right. I really don't believe that anyone can go to war and come back unscathed by it all. There are those with the obvious wounds and then those with the unseen, emotional wounds.
Kyle has been on four military deployments. We are thankful for our faith in God and the protection that He placed over Kyle while he was on those deployments. Kyle came home from each deployments, but not without damage. Some of his injuries like his ankle and back are more visible to those to look at him. You may or may not notice that Kyle has sleeping problems. But the other injuries are those that are not apparent to one just visibly looking at Kyle. Kyle hates labels and hates this diagnosis, but has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. He has seen a lot of things, things that are unimaginable to most of us. I often try to imagine what it would be like to be deployed, but really it's uncomprehendable.
Kyle has changed so much from the time I meet him to the man he is today. Some for the better, some not. I'm sure I have changed too, just ask him, but we love each other and and working through the changes in our lives. If you ask him he would not change his circumstances. He really believes that EVERYTHING happens for a reason, and just leaves it at that.
Kyle has been going through a Medical Board with the Army. The day I was referring to a few weeks ago was the day we heard if the Army determined whether Kyle was fit or unfit for continuing his career in the military. They determined that Kyle was indeed unfit. They have placed him on a temporary duty retirement list. This means in August they will come back and reevaluate his conditions and change them as they see fit. In addition they give you a rating for your conditions that they feel will keep you from doing your job. So the Army rated him on his ankle and PTSD. We also received his VA rating, which rates you on any service connected disabilities. So they rate him on everything from acid reflux to his PTSD. Because they rate him on all his conditions their rating is usually higher. In Kyle's case it was considerably higher and honestly we have been blessed beyond anything we ever imagined.
It's hard to write about, because like I said it really is pretty personal, but also it's a hard thing to address, maybe hard for people to understand. And I feel like I'm saying "Hey Kyle is pretty messed up. So messed up the government will be giving him a paycheck the rest of his life. Wow, we are blessed Kyle is so messed up!" So, maybe you can understand my hesitation in writing
We still have a few months left in the military as we await orders. We are expecting to receive those for sometime in February or early March. As from here we really no have idea yet on what is in store for us. Kyle has been in contact with a company located in Spokane, Seattle, and Portland called Peak 7. It really is exactly what he has been dreaming of doing on his own. Except they are already established and need employees and volunteers. Kyle could volunteer the rest of his life if he wanted. Really, now we are just waiting to see what doors open and we are listening. We are praying, waiting, and listening. We sure don't want to miss what God has planned for us next!
A couple pictures, totally unrelated:
 This is what we live and breathe at our house lately...trains. Gunnar talks about them before he goes to bed and the moment he gets up. Ryker loves the little lego men...but usually attempts to destroy Gunnar's train creations, so it can end up being very frustrating for me as the referee.

 Last night we went to Fantasy Lights in Spanaway Park. We had a great time with friends!

Grandma's Visit

This past weekend we made the drive over to Pasco to my parents house. My Grandma Joyce (mom's mom) was there visiting from Tennessee. We didn't want to miss the opportunity to see her, so I was thankful our prayers were answered and the boys were feeling well enough to make the trip. Ryker had ear infections and Gunnar had bronchitis, I'm so thankful for antibiotics. 
It was so great to see my grandma. I love my grandma so much and love our close relationship. I miss her like crazy! I do wish she could be closer, but I can't say much about moving far distances for the ones we love, my husband did move us to Germany for almost four years. I know it isn't easy for anyone.
I love that my boys have had a couple of opportunities to get to know her. She is such a special woman with a kind and loving heart. I'm sure five great-grandkids, all boys, at my mom's house was a bit overwhelming, but it really was priceless moments that we all got to spend together.
We are hoping to make a trip down to Tennessee sometime this winter to see her and Charlie...if the Army allows it. :)
I pray her trip home was uneventful and that she is getting in a lot of rest. I'm sure the trip was exhausting!
A family picture before church.

 Sweet Owen.

 Silly Ezra.

 Cutie-pie Zane.

 Don't they look like trouble?

 Gunnar up to bat!

 Ryker playing fetch for his brother.

 Zane and Gunnar playing intently together.

 Grandma (my mom) giving the boys a magic carpet ride.

 Jami, Ryker and Grandma.

 Paul, Zane, and Grandma.

 Our family saying goodbye to Grandma.

Pumpkin Carving/Game Night

We had a pumpkin carving and game night here at the house. We invited others from church to join us. I am a last minute party planner, so not many people were able to come but it worked out nicely for our not so large house.
Pumpkin carving ended up taking way longer than we had planned. It was suppose to be a contest, but really there were no prizes, saying it was a contest just made everyone more excited about it. I started out carving one of our pumpkins and we let Josh carve out the other large one we had. I wanted to carve an owl in a tree on ours. It started out nicely, but quickly went down hill. I called in the real creative one, Kyle. He was able to turn my ugly and deformed owl into a barn owl and salvage the rest of the pumpkin. It looked awesome then Gunnar grabbed hold of a branch and broke some of it off. I still thought it was cute, even if a toothpick had to assist in keeping some of it together.
I put the pumpkins out on the porch and now the squirrels have been eating them. The owl is completely gone and the rest of the pumpkins all have nice teeth marks in them. Oh well.
For games we just ended up playing Apples to Apples. We seemed to have a nice sized group for the game and we all did a lot of laughing and had a good time.
For Halloween this year we decided not to really participate. Kyle is really having strong convictions about this not being a holiday that our family participates in. This year while it was hard for me not to dress the kids up, I supported his decision. We did however had candy out of kids at our door and carve our pumpkins. Kyle and I are going to be doing a lot of reading on the origins of Halloween and how/why it's celebrated and decide from their is Halloween is something we will participate with in the future.
Carving away....

 The carvers with their pumpkins.

Ryker and Gunnar adore Wesley. They get so excited when they hear he is coming over to play.

Playing Apples to Apples

 I got to enjoy holding this sweet little one while we played the game.

 The day after our party I came out to the dining room to see Gunnar had put all these plates on the table. He said "mom, we have birthday party, ok?" Haha...apparently he was ready for another party.

Gunnar loves the pumpkins. He gets excited every time he sees them. Ryker could care less, as you may have noticed.

Ramblings

We have been busy...but really is that so new?
The boys are growing like crazy and I'm afraid I don't have a toddler and baby in the house anymore. Pretty sure I have two toddlers. They are a riot to watch play together. I love them both so much and I'm so glad they are best buds. Gunnar loves his little brother and Ryker loves his big brother, they are going to get into some major trouble when they get older.
Gunnar has been talking like crazy lately. The other day I picked him up from school and as he was walking out he turned around and said "Bye guys, I'll see you tomorrow." Nice complete sentence. His speech has really taken off. Potty training is going great. He rarely has an accident and there is always a reason for it (like him not being able to get the door open to the bathroom). Naptime and bedtime are still a struggle. Any tips?
Ryker is busy saying basic words (ball, banana, dog, mama, dada, etc.), jabbering, and just being plain silly. He finally has gotten teeth, but they all kinda came in at once. He has two on the bottom and is working on getting four on the top.
Kyle has been busy "working." Together we have been taking a rock climbing class on Monday through the Wounded Warrior Project. The project is an amazing group of people who work to bring adaptive sport programs, retreats, and other beneficial things which are all to help in the warriors healing process all free of cost to the families. Some programs are just for the warriors, but some include the families.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays Kyle has been doing a scuba diving class. He is already certified, so the class has been fairly easy to him, but fun none the less. This is through Occupational Therapy, but is paid for by an organization called HeartBeat. They are another great group who supports our troops.We have been on a dinner cruise put on by them, we have a couple quilts made my their supporters, and they also really step-it up around Christmas. They have adopted our family for Christmas and also help out with the Christmas party for the Warrior Transition Battalion here at Fort Lewis. 
So since Kyle has been busy on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursday he has been overloaded with appointments on Wednesdays and Fridays.
I have been on the job search....really so far it's just polishing up my resume and looking at jobs. I think I will also start applying for teaching certificates in a few states that we have been considering. It's such a weird concept to me. A job?!?! I haven't worked in over two years, since the day before giving birth to Gunnar. While I am so thankful to have had this time to be home with my kids as we prepare to move and transition out of the military we are thinking that it is going to be best for me to find a job. Places Kyle and I am wanting to move aren't really moving friendly in the winter time so we are also considering buying a travel trailer and living in it until spring (which just sounds awful to me, 2 kids and 3 dogs, but will do it if need be). Really, we are just doing a lot of praying and could use your prayers as well! We have no idea what is in store for us in this next chapter of our lives. When I say no idea, we really have NO IDEA. I would be lying if I didn't say I was a bit worried, but honestly we have put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ and know that He will direct our paths. Waiting, just isn't easy. We did find out that our expected exit date is now in February or early March. They were telling us right about Christmas time before. Really, once again we have NO IDEA (see a trend here?). We do know that the government tends to shut down in the months of November and December which just means more waiting for us. In all honesty, it's totally okay with us. We are happy where we are at, comfortable, have a pay check, a roof over our head, money for groceries, great friends, ect.
Besides looking for jobs I have been busy holding down the fort, caring for the kids, my husband, the dogs, and I have also taken on teaching a 1st/2nd grade Sunday School class and the Wednesday night toddler class. Both classes are a lot of fun and I am enjoying these little opportunities to use my spiritual gift of teaching.
Enough of my rambling. Here are a few pictures of the boys....
Isn't Ryker just huge??? Like I said, totally not a baby anymore!

 I'm hoping he doesn't break any of our drawers before we leave. He loves climbing them and sitting in them. Silly boy.

 Gunnar and I painted some pumpkins one morning. He loves them. Tomorrow we are having a pumpkin carving party at our house, he should enjoy that too!