See ya in about 420 hours.

Jason hopped on an airplane a few hours ago to head back to the US of A. 

I was a little jealous dropping him off but that only lasted a minute because I'm so excited for my last 17 days here. I won't be working the last 9 days so I have an daily date with the beach, and a North bound trip to go on!

Yesterday started out with these flowers being delivered to my door. 

They made for a great start to my day. 

I got off work at 1230 and Jason and I headed down to Browns Bay and spent a lovely afternoon lounging on the beach, walking through the shops, and eating sushi, chocolate croissants, and of course, CHIPS. 

He told me that he was going to take me out to dinner and that we had reservations at 645, but I eventually got it out of him that we were going back to the beach where he first surprised me at for a candle-lit picnic. 

That boy can't hide anything from me. 

Dinner was butter chicken and rice. We discovered this heavenly dish about a week ago and have had it for four meals since. I think that explains it's deliciousness. 

Later we went to Denny's for dessert and ended up getting broccoli salad and french toast. YUM. 

The night ended with back scratches because most people that know us know that we are both obsessed with them. Well I might be the one obsessed but Jason likes a good back scratch too. 

I went to sleep at 11 and set my alarm for 310 to go pick Jason up and get him to the airport shuttle by 4AM. 

I was so stressed that I wouldn't wake up and he would miss his flight that I woke up and checked my alarm about 12 times in those 4 hours. It was awful. The last time I woke up was at 303 so I figured that was close enough and jumped out of bed. 

I'm glad saying goodbye wasn't as hard this time. I will be seeing Jason, and my amazing family and friends in approximately 420 hours, but who's counting?  (:

Jae-mo

Jaelon Modesta Trotter

aka Jae-mo

aka Jae-Jae

aka Jae

Jae, I think it's safe to say we haven't always gotten along. haha 

Being 5 years apart and having opposite personalities made it tough for us to see eye to eye. 

But just because we haven't been best friends doesn't mean that I haven't recognized how amazing you are. 

You are so sweet and nice to everyone you meet. You never judge; you always want to help out with everything you can. And I don't think I have to convince anyone who knows you how how much you like to talk!

When you were little we would sit around you and listen to you speaking complete jibberish for hours! And you would always laugh at yourself and just think you were so funny.

Which you were.

Another thing you are well known for is your tendency to be quite the drama-queen. 

Oh man, you have entertained us well throughout the years with your over-the-top reaction to things. 

Remember when you were probably 10ish and you came home from playing at a friends house and we were all sitting up to the table eating dinner. I specifically remember it being spaghetti. You came in and asked, "there's some for me, right"? Our sarcastic family replied, "nah, we ate it all, sorry". You proceeded to run out of the house crying that you were no longer loved or something to that affect. 

You were sitting underneath the tree outside when I found you to bring you a plate. 

You crack us up, girl. 

I love how passionate you are about life, even if it means coming off as a drama-queen once in a while.   :)

P.S I think me moving away has brought us a lot closer and I love it!

Lesson learned from Jae: Be passionate. 

Coromandel!

We finally made it! It was a short but sweet trip this past Sunday, and I was in heaven. 

This one is for you, Mrs. Neville!

Since pictures are worth a thousand words I'm going to let these ones speak for themselves. 

They should be saying something like this: we had a fantastic time, it was gorgeous and I will be back asap. 

3rd time is a charm.

Kaden boy

He has other nicknames but we're just gonna stick with Kaden boy. 

Because he's just my Kaden boy. 

Kaden, you have the most genuine smile I've ever seen. Ever. 

You are the sweetest boy I've ever met in my life. I've said that before and I will probably say it 5,000 more times in this life. You are a friend to everyone, you love everyone, you are the peace-maker of the house. 

(except when you get in a stubborn mood and decide to be the problem causer for a while, but that never lasts long, does it?)

My favorite Kaden memory is when you were a little boy. You could always tell when someone was sad/mad/upset and you would walk over to them on your huge porker legs and put your hand on their shoulder and then swing your chubby little face in front of theirs and ask "you happy?" 

No one was ever sad/mad/upset after that. 

Sometimes when you would come inside and tell me that Cole got mad and hit you I would get frustrated with your 24/7 nice-ness and would tell you to 

"hit him back, dude"!

You would always just look at me like that was the silliest thing to do. 

And you never would do it. 

You have the gift of kindness, bro. 

Everyone loves that about you.

P.S when I get home we're getting you into modeling. 

Lesson from Kaden: Kindness

Cole Morgan

Next up: Mr. Cole Morgan

aka Cokamo

aka Coley Boley

aka Coke

You're such a stud, Cole! 

I've never met a kid that is so good at learning. 

You're so smart, and pick up on anything you are taught so quickly!

I love that you can watch YouTube videos of soccer players for hours and then go out and try their moves yourselves. 

How many soccer goals have you scored in your life?

200-ish? 

more?

Your victory run back to your half of the field after you score is the coolest thing ever. 

I plan on watching you play in the big leagues one day, little buddy. 

I don't think you realize how much you talk. 

It's H I L A R I O U S. 

I love that you have so much to say and love connecting with people. 

 This is such a classic Cole face. 

You're such a dork. 

I love you! 

Lesson learned from Cole: Be teachable. 

Humbled!

I was feeling really good about myself yesterday. 

Why is that, you ask?

Well get this: I wore jeans when I took the kids to school AND my hair was down and still looked pretty cute from the night before. I still had the t-shirt on that I wore to bed the night before but hey, small steps people. 

I realize that event doesn't seem note worthy but when you roll out of bed at 7 every day and immediately start making lunches, getting breakfasts, doing hair, dressing kids, breaking up fights, and coaxing all 4 kids to get into the vehicle by 8am, there isn't much time for beautification! 

{Ok I'm feeling a bit guilty as I type this so I feel like I should say that the only reason I put on those jeans was because I slept in my underwear and they were the closest thing to my bed when I woke up in the morning. And that's because I, of course, took them off right by my bed, left them in a heap on the floor, climbed under the covers, and caught the ferry to dream world. }

Anyways, I was just happy that I could look the other parents and the teachers in the eye and smile and let them know that, yes, I do indeed own somewhat of a wardrobe, believe it or not! 

I don't always wear sweats, and t-shirts with morning milk drops on it! 

The joy of proving to these people that I could look decent too (all the moms drop off their kids looking great every day!) lasted until I was standing outside my van about to get in. I looked down and saw my fly wide open. Like...my zipper was in the shape of a circle. That's how open my fly was. 

Humbled.  

735 days. 97 Days. 26 days.

735 days is how long Chance will have been gone when he gets back, therefore the number of days since my entire family has all been together. 

97 is the number of days I will have been away from my family by the time I get back. 

26 is the number of days I have left here. 

I'm so ready to have my family together again. 

Can't wait for the late night talks, the Sunday night game nights, the hikes, the sarcasm, the comfort, the laughs,  the L O V E. 

I've decided to do a tribute to every member of my family. 

I can't get the dang people off my mind lately, so I'm hoping this will help! 

I'll go along with the very old family rule: youngest to oldest. 

So here's to Miss Mae. 

aka Sadi Ladi

aka Miss Mahelma-hay

aka Sadi Mae Trotter

Sadi, you are so beautiful. 

You've heard that approximately 23 times a day since you've been born, but that's because it's so true. 

I love this story of  you:

Dad: "Sadi, you're beautiful". 

Sadi: "And I'm cute, and precious, too"!

(that was at about 5 years old)

You're so confident, missy. Stay that way. I know you still are at age 7 because of this story:

As you and mom were listening to Kasey James sing the song, When A Man Loves A Woman, 

Mom: "Sadi, make sure the man you marry loves you"!

Sadi: "All men are going to love me". 

Mom: "Oh ya, why"?

Sadi: "Red hair, brown eyes". 

Mom: "Just make sure you are a nice girl, and they will love you". 

You crack me up, girl. 

As pretty as you are with your red hair, brown eyes, dimples, freckles, and smiley face, you are so nice to everyone. A little bossy, but it might have been me that taught you that one so I can't really complain too much. 

I can't believe you wrote this song:

any time you're feeling sad, open your eyes, look in your ♥, you can see your famally and love. So any time you're feeling sad or bad just open your eyes, look in your ♥ you can see your famally and love. 

How does a 7 year old get so deep and so wise?! 

You amaze us all, Miss Mae. 

I love you. 

 Sadi, I hope you and Seth fall in love one day. Wouldn't that be so cute to look back at this photoshoot and be like, ahhh look at us. I think that's a good idea!




Lesson Learned from Sadi: Confidence. 

My weekend: Kelly Tarlton's & Rangitoto Island

Our Coromandel trip was pushed back a weekend so instead we went to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World on Saturday. 

We saw stingrays, sharks, fish, turtles, an eel, crabs, and a huge dead squid that was washed up on the south island a while ago.
We missed the shuttle so we killed an hour and a half in the mall where I made this great hat purchase for 5 buckeroos. 

It provided entertainment for the rest of the day.

Wahoo, We found the shuttle.

I hate eels with all my heart.

 This fish is so dorky! That's why I love it so much. Kind of like my dad.

You didn't know the cast of Finding Nemo got to retire in New Zealand did you?
Ya, Pixar hooked them UP.

After the Underwater World, we played arcade games, took some awesome pictures in some Japanese photo booths (I'll get those on here later somehow; they're quite hilarious), and got some dinner.


Sunday we were off to hike to the top of Rangitoto Island.
And man, were those views lovely.

Great picture eh? Jason snapped this one.

The City of Sails was hopping today!

Halfway up!

Made it to the top!

On the way back down we checked out some lava caves.

Here's some birds for you to look at.


Next weekend: Coromandel. For sure this time.
Can't wait.